USA simply too good - Sasaki

Japan coach Norio Sasaki made no excuses for his team's Women's World Cup Final loss to United States, saying their opponents were "simply too strong".

Carli Lloyd struck a hat-trick inside 16 minutes as USA - beaten by Japan in the 2011 final - made an incredible start in Vancouver, taking a 4-0 lead.

Japan did manage to cut the gap to two, but Jill Ellis' team were always on track and ran out 5-2 winners.

"My players have given their all in every match, and overall they’ve had a great tournament here in Canada," Sasaki said.

"Today, though, the Americans were simply too strong. In the first few minutes, it seemed as if every shot ended up in the back of the net.

"But we never gave up fighting for our supporters in the stadium and back home in Japan. We’re proud of our performances.

"Four years ago, we won in Germany and in doing so we really gave the development of women’s football in Japan a big boost.

"This time around, we reached the final, and I hope that this will lead to a new period of growth for the game."