Not so long ago, in 2011, Japan won the title at the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
A year after that, they played the United States women’s national team in the London Olympics final.
Japan still is rated the No. 7 team in the world by FIFA.
And yet Saturday, in the quarterfinals of the Olympic Games soccer competition, they were content to cede 71 percent possession to the USWNT.
One could say it almost worked, that Japan had several opportunities to first generate the goal that would have broken the scoreless tie and enhanced the pressure on the United States to find a way through that entrenched defense. It didn’t work, though.
It did not because Crystal Dunn played what might have been the game of her life, and because Trinity Rodman scored a goal for a 1-0 victory that assures the USWNT will play for a medal at Paris …