The women will now take on Denmark this Wednesday to see who gets to lift the Cup.
One woman doing everything she can to make that a reality is midfield maestro, Shannon Boxx. Shannon is the glue that holds this young squad together as they look to build momentum toward Beijing.
But, before she was training for world championships, she was just a young girl with a dream growing up in Southern California with her sister and mom.
So sit back and let Boxxy tell you her story in her own words.
How did you get started playing soccer?
Well, my sister, Gillian, is four years older than me, and right away I saw her playing and tried to make my mom let me play. My mom even had to pretend that I was a little bit older than I was when I first started playing.
You and your sister seem to have a pretty strong bond?
My sister and I are close now, but we weren't always. Now, we know how to handle the competition between us. When we were kids it was hard. My sister had to take care of me after school and she hated it and I was a little brat. But, now that we're adults we definitely love each other and we're there for one another.
Which people have helped catapult you to where you are today?
First and foremost would be my mom. She was able to pay for us to play these sports and got us to every game and every practice. And, she's never said you can't do something. So I think her having backed us through everything we wanted to do has really helped me get to where I am.
I think also my sister's Olympics in '96. When I saw her do it, it made me think why not me? And that was when I said alright what can I do to make the Olympics?
Do you have any pre-game rituals that you have to do?
I do. If I can find banana pancakes for breakfast with coffee that's what I do. So I make sure that I have a really good breakfast, and banana pancakes have just become a tradition. Now my teammates make sure I've had my banana pancakes before a game. Other than that I just make sure I French braid my hair.
Speaking of food, I understand your mom's chili is your favorite?
Well, my mom doesn't cook that much, so we didn't have much to choose from. Sorry mom. But that was one thing that she loved to make when we were kids. She would make so much that we would have it for days and days, and it would still be so good. Now I make it for my friends and have passed the recipe on to them. So good job mom.
So, is there anything you can tell our 365 readers about yourself that they don't know?
I'm kind of a closet case country person. I love horseback riding. I love the whole cowboy thing. I'm into country music. If I've gone to a concert, it's a country concert. So I think that's something people don't know so much about. I do like my hip hop, but I will definitely listen to my country music. From an early age I was like cowboys are kind of cool and cowgirls are awesome. I've just always been attracted to that style. I used to collect horse figurines when I was a kid. And I'm still into it.
Thanks for taking the time to share some stories with us Boxxy, and best of luck against Denmark.
And, for those of you who don't know, you can follow the US WNT as they play in the final of the Algarve Cup. All you have to do is click on MatchTracker at ussoccer.com's homepage.
Keep checking back here at 365, as we've got interviews with Tarp and Hope coming soon.
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