I’ve gone all in on the Women’s World Cup the past two days.

Yesterday I cajoled my cricket-loving British co-workers into tuning the big-screen TV from the England-Sri Lanka series-deciding cricket match … to the England-France women’s quarter-final … and then watched Japan shock Germany, after I was done for the night. Then I wrote about those two matches for the Monday editions of The National.

This afternoon, I watched Sweden handle Australia … and just now tonight I finished watching the U.S. make an epic rally, playing with only 10, to win 5-3 in a shootout with Brazil.

It was a memorable match for three reasons.

1.  A U.S. national soccer team showed, again, that America’s “footballers” never, ever give up. This is a rare quality in world soccer. Believe me. I’ve watched teams play, men and women, from every continent, and 99 percent of them take their foot off the gas when it is clear they have little or no chance. I’ve seen teams all but quit. The Yanks never do. Not the men, and not the women, and the women showed it today. Down 2-1, playing with 10 for an hour against Brazil, they kept running, up to and past exhaustion. To watch the game, and see the U.S. somehow continue to apply pressure … was inspirational. I’ve seen the men do the same thing. In most of the world, this refusal to quit is seen as naive and maybe even silly. When it’s too hard, back off. Everyone does it. The Yanks, however, don’t do that. It’s part of the “global game” that they never picked up, to their lasting credit.

2. Refereeing remains the most amateurish aspect of the Women’s World Cup. Going back to the group stage, when a woman playing for Equatorial Guinea just picked up a ball in the box and held it for two or three seconds before dropping it. Without penalty. In the U.S.-Brazil game, an Australian ref had a nightmarish game that almost cost the U.S. a chance to win the shootout. We are still trying to figure out why she allowed Brazil to have a second chance on a second-half penalty. Hope Solo had saved the first, but some phantom infraction called by the ref allowed Marta to have a second chance, and she buried, and the U.S. trailed 2-1. Fifa has to improve the quality of its referees, especially on the women’s side.

3. Abby Wambach is a beast, and ought to score in every game. The U.S. striker, the heart of the team since the Hamm-Foudy-Chastain generation left the game, must have had 25 restarts directed toward her in the box. Yes, she scored on one, maybe 90 seconds from the end of extra time, to forge the tie that led to the shootout. But where was she on the first 24 plays in the box? She has to get to more of those balls, and turn them into shots on goal.

A bizarre game, but it turned out all right because of the late goal and the U.S. winning the shootout. The crowd had turned against the Brazilians, who were flopping and stalling shamelessly and whose PK goal was bogus. If Brazil had won, that sad Australian ref would have been talked about forever. Now, it’s all good — aside from the Brazilian defender who is now the Official Goat of the match. It was Daiane, who scored an own goal to give the U.S. a 1-0 lead, and whose penalty kick was saved by Hope Solo in the shootout. Ack. Cost Brazil early and late.

I’m not at all sure the U.S. can win the World Cup. I don’t like their talent on the ball, and they are particularly soft in midfield. Talking about you, Shannon Boxx and Carli Lloyd. I’m not sure who can score a goal aside from Wambach. Their idea of defense seems to be muscling opponents off the ball, and I can see how that is generally a good tactic, given that the U.S. women are bigger than nearly all their opponents. But if it gets too egregious and is, say, inside the box, it can lead to a sketchy red card and a PK, as it did in this game.

But they ought to able to beat France, if they have anything left, and they would be favored against the Japan-Sweden survivor, too.

Interesting match. Great comeback. Great heart. The guy doing the game on Al Jazeera Sports, which is how we see the games over here in the UAE, was a Brit, and he was effusive in his praise of the U.S. team, even before Wambach’s tying goal. Pointing out that viewers might never know which team was playing with 10, given how hard the Yanks played.

They deserved to win, and I’m glad they did.