Banner Day

On the way to training, the U.S. players noticed that banners advertising the FIFA Women’s World Cup have been put up on the light posts, and there are also several billboards around the city. The buzz for the tournament is beginning to pick up here in Shanghai, although the U.S. team will be leaving in three days for Chengdu, where it will open the tournament on Sept. 11 vs. North Korea. Many of the teams have arrived or are arriving very soon and the start of the competition is now less than 10 days away. This will be an important tournament for China, which lost the Women’s World Cup four years ago due to the SARS epidemic. China is no doubt motivated to stage a fantastic tournament, especially with the Beijing Olympics next year, and all indications are that they will.