text: Image copyright AFP Image caption Japan's women's team had been defeated 5-2 in Sunday night's match 
   
   Victory for the US against Japan in the Women's World Cup final turned into a Twitter row on Monday after some fans began to relate the win to Japan's 1941 attack on the US Navy's Pearl Harbor base. 
   
   Pearl Harbor became one of the top trends among Twitter users in the US, attracting thousands of tweets. 
   
   "Hey Japan, that one was for Pearl Harbor," said Cloyd Rivers, in a tweet which drew more than 8,500 retweets and was favourited more than 11,000 times. 
   
   Image copyright Twitter 
   
   The hyper-patriotic account is generally considered to be a parody, but many on Twitter were quick to take up the theme. 
   
   "They destroyed Pearl Habor, we destroyed their dreams," said another user Sean Garcia. 
   
   Others referenced the US atomic bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, with one user remarking: "Someone forgot to tell our US women's team that we already avenged Pearl Harbor." 
   
   Image copyright Twitter 
   
   Image copyright Twitter Image caption This Japanese tweet expresses disbelief towards the negative reaction after the win 
   
   Image copyright Twitter 
   
   'Awful human beings' 
   
   But many Twitter users also condemned the negative reaction expressed by some fans. 
   
   "Pearl Harbor isn't funny. Hiroshima isn't funny. Nagasaki isn't funny," said Twitter user Taylor Perry. "This isn't WW2. This is a women's soccer match in 2015." 
   
   Another user tweeted: "Jokes about bombing, Pearl Harbor and racist remarks are never funny in the first place. Why can't we all just watch the game and cheer?" 
   
   Other Twitter users also rose to the defence of the Japanese fans. 
   
   "Pearl Harbor? I thought the atomic bomb was enough reaction for that," read a tweet. 
   
   "You're not funny. You're awful human beings," said Twitter user Ginge. 
   
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   Twitter 
   
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   While most Americans celebrated the country's historic soccer win Sunday night, a vocal minority saw the opportunity to stir up a Twitter storm. 
   
   The resounding 5-2 victory by the U.S. Women's National Team over Japan prompted some people to suggest that the game was payback for the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. 
   
   This is for Pearl Harbor pic.twitter.com/jd3ptnxxWM — Yung C Boy (@JGenzy) July 5, 2015 
   
   Japan wishing they never bombed Pearl Harbor right about now... — Joe Head (@JoeHeadTV) July 5, 2015 
   
   That 4th one was for Pearl Harbor. #USA — TA (@TaylorDTTT) July 5, 2015 
   
   More than 2,400 people died in the surprise assault by Japan on the U.S. naval base in Hawaii. 
   
   Others on Twitter used America's third triumph at the Women's World Cup to make barbed comments about the atomic bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, in which at least 135,000 people died. 
   
   Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Vancouver Three locations USA has blown Japan away — Kevin Pierce (@Kpierceswag) July 6, 2015 
   
   "Pearl Harbor" was among the most popular trending topics in the U.S. following the game, ranking alongside the team names "#USAvJPN" and the U.S. goalkeeper "Hope Solo." 
   
   The words "Pearl Harbor" typically get around 500 mentions per day, according to the analytics website Topsy. On Sunday this spiked to more than 50,000 mentions, although many of these were from people expressing outrage at the original joke. 
   
   Pearl Harbor isn't funny. Hiroshima isn't funny. Nagasaki isn't funny. This isn't WW2 this is a women's soccer match in 2015 lol — Tay (@Tayty_Perry) July 5, 2015 
   
   Pro tip: that Pearl Harbor tweet you're typing up...don't send it, keep that to yourself, you heathen. — Kami Mattioli (@kmattio) July 5, 2015
target: – Shortly after the USA's win over Japan in the Women's World Cup last night, Twitter fans exchanged jubilation and sportsmanship for something much darker: mentions of Pearl Harbor. Several soccer fans suggested the 5-2 victory was a form of payback for the 1941 attack during World War II, reports the BBC. "This is for Pearl Harbor," one less-than-subtle user tweeted along with a photo of Carli Lloyd's face on an atomic bomb. "They destroyed Pearl Harbor, we destroyed their dreams," tweeted another. Yet another wrote "USA has blown Japan away," while referencing Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The New York Daily News reports 120,000 died instantly when two atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945; while 2,403 died in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor tends to get mentioned about 500 times a day on Twitter, analytics website Topsy finds, per NBC News. That number jumped to 50,000 yesterday, but at least some users challenged the trend. "Pearl Harbor isn't funny. Hiroshima isn't funny. Nagasaki isn't funny. This isn't WW2 this is a women's soccer match in 2015," wrote a user.