The American outfit, who lost to Japan in last year's world cup final, looked more determined to retain their Olympic title, and they did not wait long for their first goal.

In the eighth minute, Lloyd headed in a pass from Alex Morgan to put the defending champions ahead. Then in the 54th minute, the 30-year-old midfielder doubled their lead with a powerful shot.

Lloyd was understandably elated by her own performance.

"This is pretty crazy. Back in Beijing (2008 Olympic Games gold medal match) I scored the only goal against Brazil, and now I have scored two goals in the final here. Maybe for my third Olympic final I'm going to have to score a hat-trick," she said.

"But I feel I have played really well in this entire tournament. I tried to step up and lead things and was trying to be the player who would make the difference," she said

Japan, technically superior but physically inferior, pulled one back in the 63rd minute when unmarked Yuki Ogimi scored on a mishot from Homare Sawa.

The world champions came close to scoring twice. In the 18th minute, Ogimi saw her shot fingertipped by the Amerian goalkeeper Hope Solo and bounced off the bar.

A quarter later, a mesmerizingly-organised attack by Japan left America's defence in tatters, but to the disappointment of the Japanese supporters, skipper Aya Miyama's shot hit the bar.

"When the game ended I was sad. But we did well and we did everything we could, so it's OK," Miyama said.