EIGHT MONTHS AFTER having to win a play-off just to get to Germany, the Americans face Japan in the Women’s World Cup final on Sunday. A win would be the ultimate finish to their improbable journey, making the United States the first three-time champions and delighting a country of new-found fans.

“I believe all the way we’ll find a way,” Carli Lloyd said on Saturday. “It’s going to be a tough match like every other match has been, but I believe that we will find a way and it’s our destiny to get it done.”

For a long time, the Americans were about the only ones who believed that. The US are the number one-ranked team in the world, defending Olympic champion and have dominated the women’s game for the better part of two decades. But they arrived at the World Cup looking average – they were stunned in regional qualifying in November in Mexico and had to beat Italy in a two-game play-off to claim the very last spot in the World Cup.

They opened the year with a loss to Sweden and then fell to England for the first time in 22 years — so long ago Alex Morgan hadn’t even been born yet. Then, after easy wins in their first two games in Germany, the Americans lost to Sweden again – their first loss ever in World Cup group play.

“In the past, we’d always won everything,” captain Christie Rampone said. “Those losses made our team what it is today. We need each other and you feel that, from the locker room to the time we step on the field.”

Never was that faith in each other more evident than in their quarter-final against Brazil. Down a player for almost an hour and on the verge of making their earliest exit ever from a major tournament, Abby Wambach’s magnificent header in the 122nd minute tied the game and sparked one of the most riveting finishes ever in a World Cup game — men’s or women’s. The Americans beat Brazil in a penalty shootout and, just like that, the folks back home were hooked.

Lloyd said:

“We’ve proved everyone wrong. Now I think everyone is starting to believe in us. We’ve won everybody over, which is tremendous because the support back home has been unbelievable.”

While part of the US appeal is its success here, it’s the team’s spunk that has really charmed fans, a can-do attitude uniquely — proudly — American. Wambach added:

“We are disappointed in the kind of soccer we played in last few games. It’s just not the kind of soccer we want to play. Sometimes games turn into what games turn into and you have to deal with what you’ve got and somehow find a way and figure it out. And that’s what we did and that’s something to be proud of and that’s what we take away from it.

“But against Japan, we want to do and play the way we’ve been training. We don’t want it just to be a dogfight. We want it to be a game people can watch and be excited about.”

Japan will have something to say about that, of course. The Nadeshiko have never beaten the Americans and have been outscored a whopping 77-13. They have three losses this year alone to the US, including a pair of 2-0 defeats in warm-up games a month before the World Cup began. This also is Japan’s first final at a major tournament, having lost to the US in the semi-finals at the Beijing Olympics.

But Japan is a far better team than the one the Americans saw in May, having upset pre-tournament favorite Germany in the quarter-finals and Sweden in the semi-finals. Their ball-handling skills are exquisite, drawing comparisons to Barcelona for their slick combination play, and they dominate possession as if it’s a game of keepaway.

They’ve shown a nice scoring touch too, their ten goals at the World Cup second only to the 11 scored by the US. The ageless Homare Sawa has been a marvel, sharing top-scoring honors with Marta with four goals. “Why shouldn’t we be confident?” she asked.

The Americans remain confident, however, just as they were through every pothole and dip in their bumpy road.
“Nothing worries me right now,” Sundhage said. “You have to enjoy the moment. Look at the road we’ve taken. If I get worried, I just have to look back at that road.”

-AP