Ah Japan! The land of the rising sun, the birthplace of
sushi as we know it
and...oh yeah, the third-ranked defending Women's World Cup champions. And the Canadian ladies have them up first. Joy!
The third ranked Japanese shocked the world and healed a nation shattered by the March 11th Fukushima earthquake by winning the World Cup last year, becoming the first Asian team to win a senior level FIFA World Cup...ever. Seriously, that's no mean feat, considering they were matched against the brutal steamroller defence known as the USA. But somehow, they came away with the win.
However, things haven't come up all sakura blossoms for the Nadeshiko Japan since that World Cup win -- they lost the recent
Algarve Cup final
to Germany (who aren't playing in London -- shocker!), and in the latest World Cup final rematch against the US team, the Japanese fell 4-1. Some may blame poor treatment of the team (heading to London, the men's U-23 team was allowed to
travel in Business Class while the World Champion women traveled coach
...wow, way to go Japan!)
But when it counts, the Nadeshiko have stood tall, blazing through the Asian ...
