Homare Sawa, captain of the women's national soccer team was recently presented with two Guinness World Records in Tokyo. One for the with the Latest Goal Scored in a FIFA Women's World Cup Final and another for the Most Appearances in a FIFA World Cup Final tournament.
Sawa scored in the 117th minute of Japan's victory over the United States at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in Frankfurt, Germany.
The goal leveled the score at 2-2 enabling Japan to proceed to penalty kicks where it triumphed 3-1 to capture the nation's first World Cup. The Japanese captain breaks the previous record held by Nia Künzer (Germany) who scored on the 98th minute of the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup final.
Sawa has achieved a second Guinness World Records title for the Most Appearances in the FIFA Women's World Cup TM with five appearances. She shares this record with four other players: Kristine Lilly (USA), Bente Nordby (Norway), Miraildes Maciel Mota 'Formiga' (Brazil), and Birgit Prinz (Germany).
Frank Foley, MD of Guinness World Records Asia Pacific, said "In a year when Japan has suffered such devastation due to the 11 March earthquake and tsunami, we were delighted to celebrate these uplifting records which typify the fighting spirit and character of the Japanese people".
