World Cup Wednesday: United States Through To Final, Awaits Japan Or England

One half of the Women's World Cup Final is set as the United States awaits the winner of today's match between Japan and England in Sunday championship.

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Over the weekend, Canada’s dreams of winning the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup on home soil were dashed as the home squad fell 2-1 to England, bringing their run to a disappointing close. While they played up to their ranking – making the final eight as the eighth-ranked team in the world – it’s hard not to look back on Canada’s run in this tournament and not be frustrated and saddened for players like Christine Sinclair, the best female player to ever come out of this country, as chances are this was her final World Cup.

But rather than fixating on a team that is out, the focus remains on the teams still playing and with two games left to play, we know one half of the championship pairing.

After winning “The Group of Death” and besting Columbia and China to advance to the semifinals, the United States continued its strong play with a 2-0 win over Germany in front of over 50,000 people at Olympic Stadium in Montreal on Tuesday.

Carli Lloyd got the Americans on the board with a penalty kick in the 69th minute and Kelley O’Hara delivered the dagger in the 84th as Hope Solo collected another clean sheet to carry this squad back to the World Cup finals, where they await the winner of today’s second semifinals match between Japan and England.

The defending champions from Japan have conceded only two goals all tournament, one in the elimination round and one in the Round of 16 to the Netherlands. England, meanwhile, has ridden a string of four consecutive 2-1 scores to advance to the Final Four, improving on their quarterfinal showing from four years ago.

Whichever side advances will be the underdog against the United States, who could move to top spot in the world rankings thanks to their win over Germany and finals berth, but it should be a spirited affair either way.

Of course, a rematch between the U.S. and Japan holds the most intrigue, as the Japanese topped the Americans in penalty kicks to claim the 2011 World Cup and the sting of that defeat still lingers with the veteran-laden U.S. side.

A Round of Applause for Canada: This is an ovation for Canada, the host nation, not the team that took the pitch.

While there were some pre-tournament concerns about the field turf and moments where observers have been critical of cavernous venues appearing vacant for Knockout Round matches, the lowest attendance figure of the quarterfinal round was 19,000-plus in Edmonton for Japan’s win over Australia.

The average attendance figures from the Round of 16 games tops 30,000 in attendance and though that number is bolstered by 54,000 showing up to BC Place to cheer on Canada, Montreal and Ottawa hosted more than 24,000 fans for games as well.

Scoff if you want, but 20,000-plus consistently for women’s soccer is outstanding and this country ought to be proud of the attendance figures they helped generate for this tournament.

Anguish, But Still Some Positives for Team Canada: As previously stated, coming up short on home soil is a bitter pill to swallow for Team Canada, but there were still positives to take away from this tournament for the hosts.

Kadeisha Buchanan is already a terrific defender and she is going to be a superstar on the back end for this country for the next decade. She has game-changing skills and was consistently one of the best players on the pitch throughout this tournament. She’s only 19.

Jessie Fleming gained valuable experience being with this squad throughout as well and four years from now, when the 17-year-old midfielder is 21 and lording over the center of the field for Canada, we’ll look back on this run as a serious influence on her development. Same goes for Ashley Lawrence and Adriana Leon as well.

Hopefully John Herdman sticks around to continue leading this club as his impact over the last four years is apparent and there is no reason for him to depart.

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