U.S. Women's Soccer Team One Win From World Cup Title

The U.S. women's soccer team has captured America's attention at the Women's World Cup. All it needed was an impossible win over Brazil one week ago, followed by a win over France. But for women's soccer to get an even larger boost in America, the U.S. must win the World Cup today over Japan. It would complete a Cinderella week for the United States -- but it may actually be the least of the Cinderella stories in the final.

Japan has even more of a reason to pay attention as its team has represented the nation at a very hard time. This year has been hellish for the nation, thanks to various earthquakes and a devastating tsunami. Now the Japanese women's team is helping to provide a boost with its miracle run.

While the U.S. squad has made impossible rallies, no one can really be surprised it is in the championship game. Japan, on the other hand, shocked the world by beating overwhelming favorite and two-time defending World Cup champion Germany in the quarterfinals. For good measure, the Japanese then beat a Swedish team that had defeated the United States a week earlier.

Going into the championship, the Americans have a lot more pressure than Japan. Winning the World Cup might be the only way for the U.S. to really take notice of women's soccer since the country is notoriously fickle about the game. Although America has become a big story over the last week, a loss in the final would be a damaging asterisk and place it below the shadows of the 1999 champions for good.

Japan is playing with house money since it is a big victory just to get to the final. Winning the nation's first international title in the sport would be a bonus at this rate. Just getting here has helped the country forget about its massive tragedies this year, if only for a little while. That can't be said about the American team, as the U.S. has many other sports stories and national problems to think about right now.

The Americans can't afford to look past an opponent with that motivation, especially since it is lucky to even be here. The impossible win over Brazil didn't propel the U.S. to an easy victory over France, given the French were close to overwhelming America for much of the second half. The United States still has a lot of kinks to work out and is facing a squad that has pulled major upsets already, so this could still be the toughest showdown of all.

While the Japanese and USA women's soccer clubs have propelled the Women's World Cup with their Cinderella runs, only one can have a Cinderella ending. That ending will be determined starting at 2:45 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Sources

CNN International- "U.S. women face Japan in last hurdle to World Cup title"