The U.S. women's national team beat Canada on penalties Wednesday night in a wild Gold Cup semifinal that, by any reasonable measure, should not have been played.
Torrential rain soaked Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego. Standing water covered the field, and turned the first half into a farce. The ball wouldn't roll. Passes couldn't travel more than 10 yards.
One of those passes, from Canada's Vanessa Gilles, gifted the USWNT an opening goal, and punctuated the absurdity. It hit a puddle at the top of the Canadian penalty box, and all but stopped on a dime.