Three times now in the past five years, the United States have faced Japan in a major tournament final.
In 2011, the United States lost in heartbreaking fashion in the World Cup final after going to penalty kicks. For Japan, though, it was a moment of hope for a nation that had so recently been devastated by a tsunami, and the popularity of the Nadeshiko subseqently skyrocketed.
In 2012, the Americans took some consolation in beating Japan at the London Olympics, coming away with a gold medal and a renewed thirst for the next World Cup.