USWNT hope to write new chapter with WWC final rematch vs. Japan
VANCOUVER, British Colombia --
Forget "Breakfast at Wimbledon" or another Yankees-Red Sox showdown to mark this July 4 weekend. The women of America's heralded national soccer team have assumed sports' center stage by blasting into sensational form.
Will Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan, Abby Wambach and Hope Solo win the first World Cup for the U.S. since 1999, when 90,000 packed the Rose Bowl and millions more watched on television as sports history was made? Or is there some sinister fate that dictates the U.S. finds heartbreak against defending champion Japan?
The U.S. team's case for winning the 2015 World Cup at BC Place on Sunday vs. Japan (live, FOX, FOX Sports Go, 6 p.m. ET). is suddenly very credible. After struggling through group-stage matches and creating some doubt with grudging wins over Colombia and China in the knockout rounds, the U.S. women roared to semifinal victory over No. 1 ranked Germany in Montreal on Tuesday to set up a rematch against Japan.
That surreal loss on July 17, 2011 in Frankfurt, Germany -- when Japan willed itself to tie the game twice and finally win on penalty kicks -- has driven the U.S. women to this fateful moment. The U.S. beat Japan in the 2012 Olympics in London, but while a gold medal is nice, it's no World Cup.
"That heartbreak never goes away. It's not about revenge or avenging that loss. I feel an air of confidence and we don't overlook Japan for one minute because they are a very, very organized team,'' the 35-year-old Wambach said Friday.
But in reality, the U.S. is playing two opponents: Their own history of World Cup failures (they lost in 2003, 2007 and 2011) and Japan. But in both cases, the U.S. is prepared. The bitter taste of the 2011 loss has distilled into a potent cocktail of motivation. And while they will not overlook Japan -- a technically fantastic team that merits its second consecutive appearance in the final -- the U.S. appears to enter this match in control of its destiny. Overall, the U.S. is 24-1-6 against Japan.
In their semifinal win over Germany, the U.S. used a new formation and a rejiggered lineup to dramatically raise the level of its play. Instead of using two strikers in a 4-4-2 formation, as the U.S. had played most of this year, coach Jill Ellis installed five midfielders (Carli Lloyd, Lauren Holiday, Morgan Brian, Megan Rapinoe and Tobin Heath) and sent striker Alex Morgan out alone up top. The result was that Lloyd was unleashed as a primary U.S. attacker as Rapinoe worked out wide and Brian was able to control and hold play for the U.S. in the critical midfield.
The U.S. backline of Becky Sauerbrunn, Julie Johnston, Ali Krieger and Meghan Klingenberg has been stellar. Its command end-to-end and side-to-side has allowed the U.S. to push 10 players forward at times. In upending Germany, the backline was critical in helping to unleash a torrid pace.
That resounding win was the breakthrough performance the U.S. had been looking for all year. That it came against the best team in the world, in the semifinal of the World Cup, has ignited a deserved sense of faith within the team. Indeed, this athletic, fast and confident U.S. team is peaking at exactly the right moment.
Japan, meanwhile, played its poorest game of the tournament in its semifinal against England on Wednesday in Edmonton. The teams were locked at 1-1 in stoppage time, as England's defense had spent the afternoon successfully disrupting Japan's geometric passing. Then heartbreak struck for England. Trying to defend a cross by Japan deep in England's own end, centerback Laura Bassett booted an own-goal to give Japan the 2-1 win.
Japan coach Norio Sasaki said that part of the reason Japan had its worst game of the World Cup in the semifinals is because the team was so anxious about making a return to the final. Now that they have achieved that, however, Sasaki said he expects a different approach, especially from a team that has 17 players returning from 2011.
"The (U.S.) team is very powerful . . . we may not be good at playing against that," Sasaki said. "But the final will be final, and there will is nothing beyond that. So we shouldn't be afraid of making mistakes. And I'd like to send the players to the pitch with this strong will."
No one will argue that Japan's technical skill and patience are a superb demonstration of soccer at its finest. However, Sasaki is correct to suggest that the U.S. power is daunting. Likewise, Japan's attack, led by midfielder Aya Miyama and forward Yuki Ogimi, will be challenged to get anything past U.S. goalkeeper Solo. Between Solo and the backline, the U.S. has now gone 513 minutes without allowing a goal. Overall, the U.S. has given up only one goal the entire tournament and it was off a set-piece scramble in the 3-1 win over Australia in the opener.
All of this adds up to a U.S. team that won't have to call on fate to help it write a new chapter in soccer history. Lloyd, Wambach, Solo, Sauerbrunn & Co. have the momentum and the goods to end this 2015 World Cup with an all-American bang.
