US Women’s Soccer Team Fights Tooth and Nail for a Play at the World Cup Title

FIFA World Cup: US Women's Soccer Team

This Sunday at 2:45 EST the United States women’s soccer team will take on Japan in the 2011 FIFA World Cup title match in Frankfurt, Germany. The game is being called a “David vs. Goliath” matchup – but that’s only because it’s Japan’s first appearance in a World Cup final. Just weeks ago it would have been difficult to find anyone willing to bet on a US appearance in the final game. In fact, the American women barely managed to qualify for the tournament at all. They grabbed the 16^th and final spot in the world cup after just scraping by Italy in their final qualifying match with a 1-0 win.

The road to the World Cup final has been equally as rocky for the American women. They lost to Sweden in the first round of group play – the first time any US women’s team has lost a game in a group play match – and they had to fight tooth and nail for a penalty-kick win over Brazil in the quarter finals. Star forward Abby Wambach kept the US in the game with a tying header in stoppage time, and goalie Hope Solo brought home the win with a diving save during penalty kicks.

The US women got their groove back in the semi-final match against France, but only in the final 15 minutes, when they managed to pound out two spectacular goals for a definitive 3-1 win.

This Sunday they’ll play for the top step of the podium, and a chance to redeem themselves after 2007’s crushing loss to Brazil in the semis.

“Getting to the final is one thing and winning is another," said Abby Wambach, the US women’s star striker. "It doesn’t matter if I came in third place in 2003 and came in third place in 2007, getting to the final is only halfway part of our dream coming true, and we want to make sure that we’re on that top podium come Sunday.”

While the US beat Japan twice in pre-tournament play last May, they know that after the recent tsunami and earthquake that rattled their opponent’s home country, they’re facing a different team this Sunday.

“It is pretty clear to most of us that we’re not going to see the same Japan team that we saw in the last couple of friendlies [pre-tournament matches]," said Hope Solo, US goalie. "They are playing for something bigger and better than the game. And when you’re playing with so much emotion and so much heart, that’s hard to play against.  So I think it’s going to be an incredible final that people didn’t expect to see.”

Tune in to ESPN this Sunday for the final game – and check back with Yak Apparel blogspot next week for our post-game recap.

-Hanna Perlmutter
YAKapparel.com