MANCHESTER, England – On the verge of missing the gold-medal game for the first time, the U.S. women’s soccer team caught a break when the referee made a call rarely seen in the sport.

Then the Americans put together a final winning surge, inspired by the familiar – a pep talk from co-captain Abby Wambach.

“I know I’ve said this before,” she said she told her teammates during extra time. “But it really does just take one moment and one chance, one moment of brilliance for somebody to do something individually spectacular.”