The Women's World Cup final between the United States and Japan will be the third time in three major tournaments that the two countries have clashed in the championship game. Japan took the 2011 World Cup, on penalty kicks; the USA repaid Japan by winning Olympic gold in 2012. We can call this one the tiebreaker.
Since taking over the Japanese team in 2008, coach Norio Sasaki has transformed it from one of the also-rans of world soccer into a powerhouse. With none of the physical advantages that North American and European teams tend to have, Sasaki introduced a style based on quick passing, technical excellence and ball pressure. It was a change of pace in the women's game, which has traditionally been a contest of speed and athleticism — and it was the key to remaking the Japanese side.
In some ways, this makes Japan the opposite of the United States in Sunday's game. The Americans can almost always lay claim to being the fastest team on the field and the strongest and the biggest; Japan seldom can claim any of those. Every likely USA starter for Sunday's final, except for left back Meghan Klingenberg, will be 5-7 or taller; Japan played only one player in its semifinal, center back Saki Kumagai, who is taller than 5-5.
Despite the physical difference, though, the two teams will have similar game plans. Japan, under Sasaki, always has pressed other teams high up the pitch and looked to pass its way through the other team's defense. The United States, criticized early in this tournament for its continuous, desperate attempts to pump long crosses into the penalty area, came out against Germany and pressed the world's best team off the field — a performance worthy of a Sasaki side.
Japan has won all six of its games at this World Cup but has done so by either scoring early and holding on for dear life or benefiting from fortuitous bounces late in games — not by dominating games offensively. On the flip side, the USA had its own problems with finishing scoring chances but has been nearly perfect defensively, allowing only a handful of opportunities throughout the tournament. Attacking playmaker Aya Miyama, the key to the Japanese side, and her teammates may have trouble getting near the American goal.
The 2011 World Cup final was all USA, as the Americans hit the post and the crossbar and should have won easily. Conversely, the 2012 Olympic final was all Japan, as a combination of Hope Solo in goal and blind luck on defense was all that kept Japan from scoring four or five. Sunday's final seems likely to go the way of the previous affairs — and seems destined to again be decided by the slimmest of margins.
SHORT TAKES
• Jurgen Klinsmann's decision to make midfielder Michael Bradley the USA captain for the Gold Cup, instead of forward Clint Dempsey, is yet another sign that the coach plans to make Bradley the centerpiece of the national team.
The 27-year-old is America's best player, and the national team's recent wins in the Netherlands and in Germany were confirmation that the team looks best when he's deployed as the focus of the American attack.
