Meus Renaissance
Member
![iefJZA.png](http://k.min.us/iefJZA.png)
Quick Facts
- Japan are playing in their first final while the US have won the trophy twice.
- In 25 matches between them, Japan have never beaten the US and have only managed three draws.
- In their most recent clashes, they suffered a pair of 0-2 defeats within four days of each other in May.
Kick-Off Sunday 17th
19.45pm GMT (EuroSport for UK viewers)
2.45pm EST (ESPN as well in additional to being shown online on ESPN3)
Pre-match quotes
U.S. Womens National Team head coach PIA SUNDHAGE
On what Japan is doing against teams like Germany and Sweden to be effective despite the players small stature:
On whether the fact that the U.S. beat Japan three times earlier in the year means anything ahead of the World Cup final:In my opinion, first of all, they have some good players regardless of how tall or short they are and they do it together. Everybody praises them for the way they attack. They keep possession and thats a pretty good way to defend. But if you study the defending as well, they are very organized and they get numbers behind the ball. Thats the reason they are here. Its a really good team. With set pieces, they are so much better today than a year ago.
On what she does to keep nerves for becoming a factor for the players:A little bit of confidence and the fact that we are capable of winning against a technical team. Not only that, we bring up the way we played against Japan three times. Now, its a tournament. Its a World Cup final. It means a little bit but we need to bring out the best performance on Sunday in order to win that game. You cant rely on what happened a couple of months ago unless you look at it in order to gain some confidence and look at it in a positive way and that is what you should do. It is a balance because you can talk about that but at the same time we need to be on top of our game and on our toes. Its a balance between how good are they and how good are we, defending and attacking.
U.S. goalkeeper HOPE SOLOI would say its a lot of coaching behind Alex Morgan coming off the bench, or Megan Rapinoe. Its easy for all other coaches to say we have a team and the bench is very important. We have said that but also acted on it. You have to fight for your spot. I think a good example is [Lauren] Cheney. She wasnt in the starting lineup when the [World Cup training camp] started. But the fact that she played and practiced so well so many times in practice, not only for a week, but consistently, we gave her the chance. And when she got the chance, she took it. Of course you prepare Megan Rapinoe to come off the bench. Its about the team but also look at the specific individual. I have to say that it is different nowadays with the new generation. They are very good. Sometimes you will say that, look at myself, I can do this, Im good at this. If they also understand what it takes for team spirit and teamwork, they know what theyre good at and they bring that and they have a lot of courage to do that because theyre good. And, with a good team, they have a chance to perform.
On what kind of support the U.S. is expecting from neutral fans considering Japans story:
Thats a great question. I think going into the Brazil game, the local German fans went into the game with their ticket in hand cheering for Brazil. As the game went on, I think that their fan base is so knowledgeable that they realized that the American team was fighting and I think that was inspirational. In that game, it shifted and we kind of gained the Germans support. So going into this game, with the Japanese being the sentimental favorite, I have no idea what way the fan base is going to go.