U.S. faces Japan for World Cup title

FRANKFURT, Germany -- The bumpy, winding road got the Americans right where they wanted to go all along.

Eight months after having to win a playoff just to get to Germany, the Americans face Japan in the Women's World Cup final Sunday. A win would make the United States the first three-time champions.

"I believe all the way we'll find a way," Carli Lloyd said Saturday after the last training session. "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."

Team USA is the No. 1-ranked team in the world and defending Olympic champion, and the Americans have dominated the women's game for the better part of two decades. But they arrived at the World Cup looking, well, kind of average. They were stunned in regional qualifying in November in Mexico, a team that hadn't managed a win in its first 25 tries against its neighbor to the north, and had to beat Italy in a two-game playoff for the last spot in the World Cup.

They opened the year with a loss to Sweden, then fell to England for the first time in 22 years -- so long ago that Alex Morgan hadn't 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 quarterfinal against Brazil. Down a player for almost an hour and on the verge of making their earliest exit from a major tournament, Abby Wambach's magnificent, leaping header in the 122nd minute tied the game and sparked one of the most riveting finishes in a World Cup game -- men's or women's. The Americans beat Brazil in a penalty shootout.

The Brazil match drew the third-highest ratings ever for a Women's World Cup game, and Wednesday's semifinal victory over France did almost as well.

The White House is sending an official delegation led by Vice President Joe Biden's wife, Jill, and Chelsea Clinton.

"We are disappointed in the kind of soccer we played in the last few games. It's just not the kind of soccer we want to play," Wambach said. "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.

"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."

Japan will have something to say about that, of course. The Nadeshiko have never beaten the Americans -- draws in 2000, 2003 and 2004 are the best they've managed in 25 games -- and have been outscored a whopping 77-13. They have three losses this year alone to Team USA, 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 United States in the semifinals at the Beijing Olympics.