Women's National Teams

Happy belated birthday, America. Nevermind that your present came a day late. Maybe you were born a day too early.

In perhaps the most stunning opening to a World Cup final ever (except for that time Messi scored a hat trick in the opening 16' of a major international final...oh wait, that didn't happen), Carli Lloyd just picked up our nomination for player of the year and President of the United States with her unbelievable – seriously, we can't believe it – hat trick in the opening minutes of the USA-Japan final.

With the final of the 2015 World Cup just around the corner, it’s time to get your mind off of the stress surrounding that colossal event by paying attention to the little things in life. Little problems, that is. 

See, even the world-class ladies of the USWNT have problems, and the girls over at Soccer Girl Probs managed to get a majority of the team to tell the world just what #SoccerGirlProbs are the worst. 

Check out the hilarious video here:

We have been talking on the phone with Rachel Van Hollebeke for a good twenty minutes when she states the unspoken truth. The kind of truth that is only obvious after it has been said aloud.

“I’ve learned the idea of controlling the controllable,” she says.

Clearly, I remember thinking. We are in Boulder, Colorado. Rachel Van Hollebeke, née Rachel Marie Buehler, veteran of the U.S. Women’s National Team, is a thousand miles away in California.

It was hard to believe at first when it popped up in the upper left hand corner of the TV during the broadcast of the semifinal between the United States Women’s National Team and Germany: 

Over the past 5 games of the 2015 World Cup, Germany had average 11.8 shots on goal, not shots in general, shots on goal. Against the USWNT on Tuesday night, they only had one. 

In just a few hours from now, we will be witnessing probably the match of the year between the US and Germany, the two best teams in women's soccer.

With the exception of their game against France, the Germans cruised into the semis. The US on the other hand, has played a few nail biters to get to this point.

It's going to take a team effort in order for the USWNT to advance to the World Cup Finals. So, what will it take to defeat the Germans?

Here are three things:

If the USWNT wanted more publicity before their match last Friday against China, they got it in spades from defender Ali Krieger, who will be featured in ESPN The Magazine’s Body Issue next month.

Krieger, who received her 70th cap during the US's 2-0 victory over Colombia, will be featured in the issue, which comes out the day after the World Cup final, July 6th.

In the issue, Krieger explained why she decided to pose.

If you are a soccer fan, this is the match we've all wanted and waited for: No. 1 vs No. 2 in women's soccer.

Germany will face the U.S. in the semis of the Women's World Cup this coming Tuesday in Montreal after both surviving their quarterfinal matches.

It took penalty kicks, but the Germans outlasted France Friday night to earn their spot in the semis. Meanwhile, the US once again put on another great defensive performance to defeat China, 1-0 on Carli Lloyd's goal.

Yes, you can expect Alex Morgan, arguably the USWNT's best player, to start tonight when the US faces China in the quarter finals of the 2015 World Cup. 

Morgan may still be recovering from a knee injury, but she is far closer to being 100% than she has ever been since going down injured in the first place. It is no coincidence that she has started the last two games. Expect that trend to continue, especially given the fact that Morgan scored the game winning goal against Colombia in her last match.

The United States and China have a bit of history in the World Cup. The last time these two teams met in the competition in 1999, the USWNT won the match, and went on to win the entire tournament. A high standard to live up to, especially considering that the US has yet to hit its best, most convincing form.

Although the win wasn’t pretty, the USWNT is through to the quarterfinals in this year’s World Cup, defeating Colombia, ranked 28th in the world.

The second-ranked U.S. came into the match after “struggling” with seven points during group play, while Colombia seemed to be hot after their upset over France.

It actually shows a lot of growth in women’s soccer that analysts are disappointed with the USWNT supposed difficulties and the high expectations that follow the team.