Preview: United States To Meet Japan In The World Cup Final
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Saturday, July 04, 2015
Robby Davis, GolocalPDX Contributor
With a victory over No. 1 Germany the U.S. Women’s National team booked their ticket to play in the Women’s World Cup Final in Vancouver, Canada. They will be taking on Japan, who were able to defeat England with a 2-1 victory on Wednesday night.
This will be a rematch of the 2011 Final when Japan defeated the U.S. on penalty kicks after a 2-2 draw. This time around the U.S. is hoping for a different result than the one they got 4 years ago.
It could be argued that this year’s squad is better than the one they had back in 2011.
In order to be considered "elite" every team needs to have an equally amazing goalkeeper. Luckily the U.S. has just that. Coming into the Final on Sunday the U.S.’s goalkeeper, Hope Solo, has recorded 5 straight shutouts in this tournament. She also leads all goalkeepers in the tournament with 12 saves and 1 goal against. The last time she was scored on was in the 1st game of the World Cup.
Midfielder, Carli Lloyd has also proven how valuable she is to this team. Over the course of the tournament she has scored 3 goals. She scored 1 against Colombia, 1 against China and 1 against Germany. She has become known or coming in clutch when the team needs it most. It’s fair to say that she is benefitting from Jill Ellis’ new game plan.
One of the most important players on this team is Abby Wambach. Wambach is playing in her 4th World Cup. Although she’s considered an aging veteran at 35, Wambach has proven how valuable she is. In the 1st 4 games of the World Cup she was relied on to play heavy minutes. Since then she hasn’t started a match and barely played against Germany. This move has actually been beneficial to the team because younger players have been stepping up in her place. Tobin Heath, Morgan Brian and Julie Johnston have all shown what they are capable of. Wambach’s veteran leadership is one of the main reasons that this team is in the Final.
If the United States wants to have a shot against beating Japan all these pieces will have to come together. There’s no doubt that this team will make us proud.
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