NEW YORK (AP) -- One by one, tired and disappointed members of the U.S Women's World Cup team trudged off the bus and were greeted with cheers and waves from appreciative fans who didn't seem to mind a bit that they came up short of a championship.
About 24 hours after the Americans squandered a pair of late one-goal leads and were beaten in penalty kicks by Japan in the tournament's final game Sunday, they arrived from Germany to Newark, N.J., and heard the first rounds of applause Monday.
From there they took a police-escorted bus ride into Manhattan and encountered a few hundred fans who waited on the sidewalk in sweltering heat to welcome them back to friendly turf.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)