The U.S. Women’s quest for the World Cup fell short in a shootout against Japan yesterday.

For me, it was the first full women’s World Cup game that I watched.  Maybe I was bad luck.

Had I have known just how much I enjoyed watching this team play, I would’ve started a long time ago.  Or at least on June 26th.

What fascinated me most about how this country followed the sport this summer, was watching the twitter trends and real time updates in my facebook stream as the games were going on.  It’s always interesting and surprising to see just who has tuned in to different sporting events, especially ones on a scale as big as that of the World Cup.

Part of the love for the this team extended to 22 year old forward Alex Morgan, who has stolen the hearts of millions of Americans.  Don’t believe me?  Just checkout her facebook page, which is littered with marriage proposals from creepy young (and probably old) guys. Brooks Peck of Dirty Tackle highlighted some of the best proposals he found prior to the final on Sunday.

Morgan, quickly became an  star during the Cup with her game winning goal over France and of course, her goal in the finals inspired a young fan to flash a worldwide crowd, causing one of the most epic internet memes in recent memory.

The Big Lead has more on Morgan, she’s a forward for the Western New York Flash, a Cal Golden Bear Alum and an active twitterer.