VANCOUVER, B.C. — The twisted brilliance of the four-year World Cup crystallizes a player’s legacy in an instant, ignores the years of dedicated training for a single moment of fast-twitch muscle memory.
There’s a reason that, for all his subsequent drug problems and post-career shenanigans, to most, Diego Maradona will forever be the merry little thief who stuck a thumb in mighty England’s eye. Brandi Chastain will always be connected with sports bras, Zinedine Zidane with head butts.
It’s a cruel reality that poor Laura Bassett’s career will likely forever be defined by the game-losing own goal she scored in the final minute of England’s Women’s World Cup semifinal against Japan last week.
U.S. finishes
Since the first WWC in 1991, the Americans are the only country to finish at least third in all seven competitions. They also have won four Olympic gold medals, including the past three. Japan won the last World Cup in 2011, against the U.S.
1991
1st
1995
3rd
1999
1st
2003
3rd
2007
3rd
2011
2nd
Few soccer players ever get the opportunity that awaits the U.S. women’s national team on Sunday afternoon in the Women’s World Cup final at B.C. Place.
Few — no matter how much they want to, no matter how often they replay their defining moment in their heads — ever get to make amends.
For four years, the U.S. has been in stasis, frozen in time in the 117th minute of the 2011 World Cup final, up a goal and with Japan lining up a last-gasp corner kick. Homare Sawa beat three white shirts to the ball in front of the near post, then improbably flicked it into the back of the net with a perfectly angled right boot.
The Americans lost the penalty shootout, the long-sought, would-be career-affirming World Cup title ripped from a generation’s hands with three minutes remaining.
“It’s been a constant reminder since July 17, 2011,” said veteran U.S. forward Abby Wambach. “It’s kind of been that thing that’s been within us, that fuels our fire, that motivates us, to do that extra sprint, to make that extra flight, to extend and search for that ball, whether you’re in the box or keeping a ball from going in our own net. It’s always there. That’s what happens in heartbreak.”
The U.S. bested Japan in the gold-medal game at the Olympics one year later, but as Japanese midfielder Aya Miyama smartly put it on Saturday, they don’t sew stars above your national crest for Olympic wins.
Japan’s fire comes from a different source. In 2011, the Japanese were playing for a country still reeling from a devastating earthquake and tsunami. This time around, the defending world champs are playing for the good of their sport — and maybe a little bit for themselves.
“If we can win the World Cup again, then we can make an impact on the girls who want to start playing soccer,” Miyama said through a translator. She said that national enthusiasm has waned in the years since their first title. “We can leave a legacy. If we can win, we can make soccer a part of Japanese culture, not just a fad.”
The echoes of 2011 have been felt elsewhere in this World Cup. Japan’s previous run was a true Cinderella story, an outsider in a sport long dominated by a select few powerhouses. Cameroon and Colombia both reached the knockout stages of this competition, the latter stunning France in one of the biggest upsets in women’s soccer history.
“I think it was a watershed moment with Japan winning,” U.S. coach Jill Ellis said. “The quarterfinal win over Germany made everybody in the world realize that having the ball has a big part in being successful. It doesn’t matter how big or strong you are. Technique is a massive part of the game.
“I think they’ve helped us and everyone else in the world.”
That was a bit of an odd point for Ellis to raise unprompted, given that, and maybe because of, the main criticism of her team earlier this tournament — that it played a primitive style. The team looked hesitant to play the ball on the ground, still leaned on its superior athleticism when times got tough.
“We are two completely different teams” to the one four years ago, U.S. midfielder Lauren Holiday insisted Saturday, pointing to this version’s added depth.
The defense has certainly taken a step forward, aided by breakout tournaments from both Julie Johnston and Meghan Klingenberg. Hope Solo has posted five straight shutouts behind that sturdy back line, and the Americans haven’t allowed a goal since the opening game of the group stage.
The prevailing sentiment coming out of both camps is restrained optimism.
“If we can play our game, if we stick to our plan, I think we will have an opportunity to win,” Japanese coach Norio Sasaki said through a translator.
American physicality vs. Japanese skill, the favorites vs. the underdogs with legacies on the line.
Through force of will and luck of the draw, the Americans get a once-in-a-generation chance on Sunday afternoon to press the reset button.
“Heartbreak never goes away,” Wambach said. “But now we have an opportunity. But it’s not about revenge and avenging that loss, because this team is different. I feel an air of confidence. We don’t overlook Japan for one second, because they are a very, very organized and good team. The best team will be left standing on Sunday night.
“And of course we hope that it’s us.”
