USA Women's Olympic Soccer Team: World Cup Loss Will Motivate U.S.

The USA women's soccer team will do everything in its power to bring a gold medal stateside following the 2012 Summer Olympics. They are incredibly talented, and their motivation runs deeper than every other team on their Olympic slate. 

Last year, the women's soccer team lost to Japan in the World Cup finals, and they didn't just lose. The American team blew a late lead in regulation and another one in extra time before losing to the Japanese squad in penalty kicks. 

A heartbreaking loss such as this would motivate anyone, but giving that kind of motivation to the world's most talented women's team will create a monster. 

According to The Boston Globe reporter John Powers, the women's team has bounced back to win a gold medal the last three times they've come up short in World Cup action. On the other hand, the women's team lost to Norway in 1999 after winning the World Cup the year before. 

That doesn't make much sense, but facts are facts. Team USA plays better with its back against the wall. They know what's at stake. A team of their stature can't stand the idea of two straight disappointments on an international stage. 

In Powers' report midfielder Heather O'Reilly had this to say:

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“We’re so competitive that we’re probably so upset and disappointed from our previous World Cup losses that it gives us that extra bite and that extra hunger,” muses midfielder Heather O’Reilly, whose teammates will be shooting for their third straight title in London.

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Giving a team with this much experience, and this much talent, an extra bite is just frightening for every other team involved in this tournament. 

This squad has it all. Electric goals and crisp passes are tangible things we can see on the field, but it's the invisible things that set this team apart. 

Things like experience, devotion and the acrid taste of defeat that still lingers in their mouths will put this team on top of the medal podium when London's festivities are all said and done.

That's what sets them apart.