LYON, France — For the final stop on a four-year World Cup odyssey, the U.S. women’s national soccer team is perched at a former 19th-century convent in the hills high above this enchanting city. The view isn’t bad.
From this vantage point, Stade de Lyon, the suburban venue for Sunday’s final against the Netherlands, is far in the eastern distance.
Below, in a wedge of ancient land carved by the Rhone and Saone, thousands of U.S. fans have flowed into Place Bellecour and the narrow cobblestone streets in hope of celebrating a fourth championship.
The Americans have sat atop the mountaintop for most of three decades, pacesetters and standard-bearers for a sport mistreated by the majority of countries.