DRESDEN, Germany — The United States is the No. 1 women’s soccer team in the world, a two-time World Cup champion and three-time Olympic gold medalist.
However, the only number that matters right now is zero. As in, the number of World Cups the current team has won.
“I take it personally that I haven’t won one,” Abby Wambach said Saturday, “and I’ll be heartbroken if we walk away without one.”
The Americans better get it in gear then. After losing a group stage match for the first time at the World Cup, they must play old foe Brazil in the quarterfinals today. It’s a matchup most had penciled in for next weekend’s final. Lose, and not only will the Americans be going home empty-handed again, it will be their earliest exit at the World Cup, a tournament they last won in 1999.
The U.S. is the only team that’s made the semifinals at each of the previous five World Cups.
“We have the confidence and the faith in each other as a team. We believe that if we do this together, we can beat anybody,” Wambach said. “We have our hands full. But I still believe we have the best chance of winning.”
History would seem to back that up. Go back more than a decade, to the Algarve Cup in the spring of 2001, to find the last time the U.S. lost back-to-back games. It’s been more than four years just since the Americans failed to win consecutive games.
Yet the U.S. has been uncharacteristically inconsistent of late, losing four games since November alone.
“It doesn’t matter if the U.S. has had some bad results in the last six months,” said Marta, Brazil’s dazzling playmaker. “It’s Brazil-U.S., a big game.”
Just like its men’s team, Brazil’s roster is loaded with spectacular players. Marta, the FIFA player of the year five times running, is so gifted with the ball it looks as if she’s got it on a string, creating goals out of thin air. Cristiane has scored twice so far, once on a penalty kick.
For all their star power, the Brazilians have never won the title at a major tournament. They lost to the Americans in the last two Olympic finals, and were runners-up to Germany at the 2007 World Cup.
Their track record against the Americans is less than impressive. The U.S. is 23-2-2 all-time against Brazil.
