About a year ago, the U.S. men’s national team faced Belgium in the knockout round of the World Cup. It lost 2-1 but won over 20 million viewers, making it the second most-watched men’s soccer game in U.S. television history. The first? The draw the U.S. took against Portugal, which had taken place only a week or so earlier during the group round: 24.6 million viewers on that Sunday evening. American apathy toward soccer, it seemed, was over.
Monday night, at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta, the U.S. women’s national team will face Colombia, a nation that — at least as far as the men’s game goes — lives and breathes soccer. And while its women’s team may still be trying to find its footing in international play, just ask France how good the Colombians have gotten — the upstart took the No. 3 team in the world down in the group round before falling to England.
But here’s the question: Will you watch? Or is soccer apathy a thing of the past only when it comes to men?
The so-called knockout stage is one of the great things about the World Cup, and if you haven’t been watching yet, now is the time to start because all bets are off. It doesn’t matter that the U.S. won Group D, and it doesn’t matter that Germany annihilated Ivory Coast. All that matters going forward is that you don’t lose, because if you do, you’re out, something Brazil now knows all too well after its loss Sunday to Australia.
If the United States beats Colombia, it will face China on Friday in the march to the final on July 5. But don’t wait until then — there are five reasons to watch now:
1. You don’t want to be left out: On June 15, the U.S. squared off against Nigeria for its final match in Group D, while the Warriors and the Cavaliers had at it in game six of the NBA Finals. While some 23.3 million people watched the Warriors clinch the championship title, an average of 5 million viewers (6.3 million at peak viewing) opted to watch soccer, making the Americans’ 1-0 win the most watched women’s world cup stage match ever, and the third-most watched women’s soccer game of all time (and don’t forget to add the 52,000 people in the stadium). The record it broke had been set only days before, when 4.5 million Americans tuned in to watch their national team face Sweden. Some perspective? In 2011, the highest-rated group stage match for the U.S. netted a mere 1.3 million viewers — 285% fewer than last week.
2. The U.S. women want to take it all: No other team in this tournament can boast the track record of the American squad: The team has never failed to make the semifinals in any World Cup or Olympic Games. Never. However, after winning the inaugural Women’s World Cup in 1991, the squad couldn’t rest on its laurels. After Norway took its turn on top, the U.S. took Olympic gold in Atlanta in 1996 and then backed it up with another World Cup crown in 1999. While the U.S. gracefully settled for silver at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, it hasn’t lost an Olympic title since, nor has it ever finished out of the top three at the Women’s World Cup. This time around? It is set on adding that historic third title.
3. Abby Wambach: With superstar Alex Morgan making her way back from a nasty bone bruise, arguably the best players on the field for the U.S. have been Julie Johnston and the always phenomenal Megan Rapinoe. But no one is playing with more heart — or historical significance — than Wambach, who needs only a World Cup title to top off her ridiculously amazing career.
After coming off the bench against Sweden, which was the first time since 2003 that the U.S. played a World Cup game without her in the starting lineup, Wambach started against Nigeria. It was a critical game if the United States wanted to win Group D and find itself with a bit of an easier path ahead. Wambach’s goal in the 45th minute, connecting on a solid corner kick from Rapinoe, was the 183rd goal of her historic career, and her 14th in World Cup play. Wambach is just one goal shy of tying Brazil’s legendary Marta, who after scoring her 15th goal against South Korea during group play, sat out of Brazil’s final stage match against Costa Rica to rest for the knockout round. Little did she know then that Australia was going to send her team packing, leaving Wambach’s quest to tie or best Marta wide open.
4. Everyone else: With eight teams making their debuts, this Women’s World Cup is the largest and longest yet held: 52 matches, 24 teams. And while there was a stable of favorites coming in (and the Germans have done little to make anyone think they don’t deserve their top rank) from here on out, anyone can win.
While the earlier era of the Women’s World Cup was a battle among just a handful of teams, coming into this tournament there was a wide range joining the perennial favorite German and U.S. squads: Japan, Sweden, Norway, France and Brazil. Seeing teams such as Cameroon make it to the knockout round, and squads such as Thailand get on the board during group play, means the women’s game is expanding. From the get-go then, this tournament has been complex, interesting and nothing like those early rounds of the 1990s. So while heavy favorites remain, there’s still a lot of room for just about anything to happen, evidenced by the Matildas’ waltz over Brazil on Sunday.
5. History: Monday night’s game between the U.S. and Colombia has the kind of back story that sporting rivalries thrive on: In 2012, in the 39th minute, Wambach was essentially “sucker-punched” by Lady Andrade, who got a two-game suspension for her efforts. Wambach continued the tournament with a black eye. Think the clash is over? Not for Andrade, who said over the weekend that Colombia would win because the Americans “belittle” Colombia and “like to talk so much.”
Trash talk aside, look for this so-called Lady to be one of the serious threats to the Americans’ chance of continuing. The fierce midfielder has mad skills and scored against both France and England in group play. That said, the Colombians are not at full force, with goalkeeper Sandra Sepulveda suspended for getting a second yellow card during the team’s tough loss against England. Last nugget for history buffs: This game takes place on the anniversary of the infamous men’s match between the two national teams in which Colombian defender Andrés Escobar scored an own goal and the U.S. went on to win 2-1. Two weeks later, Escobar was dead, shot six times in a parking lot outside a bar in Medellín.
The beautiful game can turn ugly, indeed, and while Lady Andrade seems to be looking to settle a score, it hopefully won’t turn violent. Tune in Monday night if you can — you might have more company than ever before.
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