Filling The Gaps

The United States Women’s National Team meets China in the quarterfinals of the Women’s World Cup on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. ET in Ottawa, Ontario. The match holds the side’s future in one hand and its past in the other.

The U.S. and China haven’t met in World Cup play since 1999, when the Americans prevailed on penalty kicks to win the championship. The iconic image of Brandi Chastain kneeling on the Rose Bowl turf with her jersey clutched in her hands has been trotted out quite a bit this week.

The U.S. also has a 24-game unbeaten streak against China dating to 2003, but this match will be a bit different. The U.S., already struggling to score goals (six in four games) must play without midfielders Megan Rapinoe and Lauren Holiday due to their accumulation of yellow cards.

This will put a bit of pressure on forward Alex Morgan, who missed nearly three months with a bone bruise in her left knee. She scored one of the two goals in Monday night’s 2-0 victory over Colombia in her return.

“I feel better and better each game,” she said. “I’m seeing my speed, my change of direction, my shot coming back. It feels good and hopefully in the next games it will feel great.”

The winner of this quarterfinal meeting goes on the semifinals on Tuesday in Montreal against either Germany or France, which play earlier on Friday. Germany is FIFA’s No. 1 ranked team, France No. 3.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman.