Japan reach final after a stoppage-time own goal from Laura Bassett gives them victory over England. That heartbreaking own goal buried the England's dream of Women's World Cup 2015 finals. See photos and highlight video of the match:
Laura Bassett crying
"It's OK to cry." That's what England coach Mark Sampson told his team following a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to Japan in the semifinal of the Women's World Cup on Wednesday.
And no English player had more tears flowing than Laura Bassett.
In the 92nd minute, Bassett slid to try and clear a potential through pass out of the path of a Japanese forward and inadvertently knocked the ball into her own net.
It was, in the most plain and simple terms, the most agonizing way for England or any team to lose.
The truth of the matter is, Bassett had a fantastic tournament. She helped anchor a defense that was the reason why England made it to the semifinals.
This isn’t the end for England. It still has an opportunity to finish third in a World Cup where many wrote off the Lionesses after playing a subpar match against France. Beat Germany and a third-place finish is something to brag about. Remember, this is an England team that had never won a game beyond the group stage.
It's OK to cry now, but in the morning, it's time for England to focus on finishing this dream tournament and not dwelling on the nightmare.
"I’m just so proud of them," Sampson said. "We came to this tournament as huge underdogs and the weight of the nation on our back and the skeptics and critics to say that we weren’t good enough to get this far. And I’m just so proud of them. They’ve really inspired the nation back home and they deserve to go back home now as heroes. They played their hearts out, they gave their all and we should all be very proud of them."
Watch the Video Hightlights: