I’ve got Team USA and France battling it out in the Finals. I expect Team USA to reach the top and claim their fifth consecutive World Cup crown. But the gap has definitely shrunk. The lesson from the near-disaster against Italy is that raw talent is no longer a shield against cohesive, hungry international teams. A cohesive team with 3 to 4 WNBA players can take down a team of USA superstars if they don’t make good music together. If the US doesn’t sort out its internal flow, Spain, France, or a surging Germany will happily take the crown.
