USA vs. Japan, Women’s World Cup 2015: Start time, TV schedule and team news
The United States are out to become the first team to win three Women’s World Cup titles, while Japan can stick it to them and cement their legacy as one of the greatest teams ever.
For the second Women’s World Cup in a row, the United States will meet Japan in the final. They’re among the two highest ranked teams in the world again, but they’ve had very different roads to this moment.
Last time around, Japan turned in some rough performances in the group stage, then pulled off a massive upset of Germany. This time around, they coasted through the group stage, got thrown into an easy bracket and barely squeaked by a series of inferior opponents. They needed a shocking 90th minute own goal to beat England, and they’ve yet to record a convincing victory or play a fellow top-five team.
The United States, on the other hand, had to beat Sweden and Germany to get this far. They were slight underdogs against the top-ranked Germans, but beat them convincingly. Their central defenders have been the top players in this tournament, and they shut out the Germans just like they did China, Colombia, Sweden and Nigeria before them.
These teams haven’t scheduled each other between major competitions, but were put together in the 2014 Algarve Cup, where they drew, 1-1. In their last major tournament match, the 2012 Olympics gold medal game, the United States won, 2-1, thanks to two goals by Carli Lloyd.
Key player: Aya Miyama
United States stars Lloyd and Julie Johnston are the favorites for the FIFA Golden Ball, but if someone from Japan is going to play spoiler, it’s probably Miyama. She’s been Japan’s most important attacker, creating from the left wing spot and chipping in a couple of goals as well. She’ll be a handful for the USWNT’s right side.
Key matchup: Morgan Brian vs. Japan’s strikers
While they don't have a true advanced playmaker, Japan are not a direct team at all. Their strikers take turns dropping deep to find the ball, and the United States central defenders will be in trouble if they get caught chasing them up the pitch. It'll be up to Morgan Brian, the most defensive of the U.S. midfielders, to make life difficult for them and prevent Japan from creating dangerous attacks easily.
Match date/time: Sunday, 7 p.m. ET, 4 p.m. local
Venue: BC Place, Vancouver, British Columbia
TV: FOX (U.S. - English), Telemundo (U.S. - Spanish), CTV, RDS, TSN (Canada), BBC Three (U.K.), NHK (Japan)
Online: FOX Soccer 2 Go (U.S. - English), NBC Deportes en vivo extra (U.S. - Spanish), TSN (Canada), BBC Player (U.K.)
Listings via Live Soccer TV.
