American soccer fans are in mourning after a disastrous end to their Gold Cup hopes. They are kicking their goalkeeper, their coach and several defenders — and rightly so.
But later Tuesday, all will be right again.
That is when the United States’ women’s national team takes the field in Dresden, Germany, against North Korea in its first group game to open the sixth Women’s World Cup. The Americans enter the tournament as one of the favorites to win it all.
Forget about the men. This team of Yanks has a legit chance to hoist its third World Cup, its first since 1999 and the halcyon days of Mia Hamm and Michelle Akers.
The Americans pioneered the women’s game on the world stage, hosting and winning the most memorable edition of this tournament. Back in ’99, Brandi Chastain and her sports bra signaled that women’s team sports might finally have arrived in a country that has always done more talking than following through when it comes to gender equity in sport.
Since then, the women’s game has endured some rocky times. A professional league, WUSA, collapsed, and its successor, the WPS, has been forced to shrink to six teams. To say that there is a lot riding on the American women is an understatement. The very future of the professional sport in the US might hinge on whether Team USA can reignite a passion last seen at the Rose Bowl, 12 years ago.
Boasting Abby Wambach up top, Hope Solo in the net and the emerging Alex Morgan on the flank, the US has speed, grace and power. Moreover, coach Pia Sundhage has transformed the Yanks from a brawn-first side that relied on sheer athleticism to pound opponents into submission into more of a thinking-woman’s team that prizes patience and passing.
The Yanks must get through what some are calling the toughest group in the competition, set to face a dangerous Swedish side to close out the stage. While few rate Colombia as a contender, both the Koreans and the Swedes — who toppled the Americans in the Four Nations Tournament this past winter — are legit gamers.
With Brazil and Germany the other favorites, this Cup is certainly attainable for the US. Germany has to have an edge as defending champs and on home soil, but the Americans have a lot in their arsenal. And if they do win it, the Yanks will reclaim their status as the most successful women’s side in the game.
That would make every American soccer fan’s day.
