Opinion

You missed it, didn’t you? You missed CONCACAF soccer. Nothing makes you appreciate the quality of soccer around the world like the lack of it in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. That might seem harsh, but  after seeing the USA play poorly in its most difficult group game and still win, there can be no doubt that it is the truth. 

It was hard to believe at first when it popped up in the upper left hand corner of the TV during the broadcast of the semifinal between the United States Women’s National Team and Germany: 

Over the past 5 games of the 2015 World Cup, Germany had average 11.8 shots on goal, not shots in general, shots on goal. Against the USWNT on Tuesday night, they only had one. 

What a final and what a surprise? After 120 hard-fought minutes and 10 penalties, Sweden kept the upper-hand against Portugal to claim their first ever victory in the UEFA Under 21 European Championship. For many, including me, this 4-3 victory after penalties comes as a huge surprise as nobody really had Sweden down to win the tournament.

In just a few hours from now, we will be witnessing probably the match of the year between the US and Germany, the two best teams in women's soccer.

With the exception of their game against France, the Germans cruised into the semis. The US on the other hand, has played a few nail biters to get to this point.

It's going to take a team effort in order for the USWNT to advance to the World Cup Finals. So, what will it take to defeat the Germans?

Here are three things:

England has done it again. Disappointed that is. 

The England Under 21 side lost to Italy this week by 3 goals to 1. The loss left the Three Lions at the bottom of Group B with only 3 points from their 3 matches, and eliminated from the U21 European Championships. Typical of England, to say the least.

It is no secret that Manchester United want a center back. After an offseason last year that saw them bolster their attack and ignore their defense like a frat brother skipping leg day, Manchester United often inspired anxiety rather than faith whenever its back line fell under pressure. In order to remedy that — and add years to their supporters’ lives in the process — they are now rumored to be looking into Real Madrid center back Sergio Ramos.  

Finally, they’re in the game. EA Sports announced earlier this month that for the first time ever, the members of women’s national teams will be featured in the next iteration of the wildly-popular FIFA video game franchise. Although mostly the news was met with praise and positivity, because this is the internet, of course there were trolls that had to cast a negative light on this development.

Now that the USWNT has moved on from Group D, their road to a World Cup championship has gotten a little bit easier.

The United States road through the bracket includes Colombia (ranked 28th in the world) and China (16th), with the winner of Germany vs France awaiting in the semis.

Other than China, it seems as if the road for the US has gotten a lot easier, although, is anything going to be easy for the US? Defensively, the US has been solid, not so much on the offensive end.

Venezuela has never been to a World Cup. Nor has it ever won the Copa America. In fact, its best performance was achieved four years ago in Argentina, when it finished in fourth place after losing in the semifinals against Paraguay in a penalty shootout.

But tonight, Venezuela may become the first national squad to make it into the quarterfinals of the 2015 Copa America if it beats Peru in Valparaiso Elias Figueroa Stadium.