The playing field is leveling. Women’s soccer has evolved over the last 20 years and has taken tremendous strides. THe US Womens National Team was once the dominant power, but Brasil and China began to challenge them some years ago even though the US, Germany and Norway dominated the ladies’ division, splitting five World Cups between them between 1991 and 2007. In 2011 all eight quarterfinalists had a reasonable chance of hoisting the trophy, while Norway hadn’t even made it out of the group stage and two-time semifinalist China had failed to qualify for the tournament altogether. The playing field is leveling; the margins shrinking and Japan holds the trohpy for now. But the US Women are always in the mix. Can they retain that status and bring home another Cup?
http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/worldcup2011/
