Skip to footer

Can Team USA keep win streak alive against rival Japan?

History will repeat itself Sunday when the US women's national team faces off against Japan in the World Cup final. 

|
Graham Hughes/AP/The Canadian Press
United States' Alex Morgan (13) and goalkeeper Hope Solo (1) salute the crowd after the U.S. team defeated Germany 2-0 in a semifinal in the Women's World Cup soccer tournament.
  • By Kelsey Warner Staff writer

The US women's national soccer team will face an old foe on Sunday.

Team USA will play a rematch of sorts against Japan in the World Cup final in Vancouver.

US lost to Japan in the World Cup final in 2011, in a match that was decided on penalty kicks. Then, in 2012, the women from America beat Japan for gold in the Olympics.  

Japan is a team often characterized by composure and a crisp passing style. Against England in the semifinal on Wednesday, both were only occasionally in evidence. The team had a slight advantage in ball possession but was outshot by England, 15-7.

"We didn’t play as well as I’d hoped, but when you qualify, it means you’ve achieved your objective," Japan head coach Norio Sasaki said after the semifinal, according to a FIFA translator.

In the second half, England outplayed Japan, but the score remained even at 1 until the final minute when UK defender Laura Bassett toed the ball into her team’s own net. The own goal sends Japan to the championship, and was a dramatic finish for England, whose rise has been one of the top stories of this tournament.

Team USA, seeking its first World Cup championship since 1999, found its stride in its last two outings against China and Germany. Coach Jill Ellis has proven herself unafraid to make changes when the strategy isn’t working. The midfield triumvirate of Morgan Brian, Lauren Holiday, and Carli Lloyd is anticipated to be part of the lineup for the title match. It is a formidable formation Coach Ellis assembled for the first time against Germany.

On Sunday night, the US will seek to keep a couple streaks alive. Ms. Lloyd has scored in the previous three straight games. Hope Solo and the defense seek to continue an incredible 513 straight minutes of shutout play.

The two teams took very different paths to arrive at the championship. Japan had easier match-ups in the group phase, but struggled against underdogs like Australia and Cameroon. A short passing game, the team's hallmark, has been inconsistent.

The US emerged victorious from the so-called “Group of Death” but the players only found a rhythm in the knockout phase.

Germany’s head coach Silvia Neid noted a confidence in Team USA. She told reporters that the US is "so very convinced about themselves."

But the US women emphasized focusing on the championship game after the win over the world's top ranked team, Germany. “We still have one game left. We’re pretty aware of that, especially how things went down the last time around,” Abby Wambach told reporters after the semifinal, referring to the loss to Japan in the last World Cup.

The defending champions will face the tournament favorite, USA, at 7 p.m. Eastern on Sunday.  

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Can Team USA keep win streak alive against rival Japan?
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2015/0704/Can-Team-USA-keep-win-streak-alive-against-rival-Japan
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe