Brazil stands in way of U.S. at Women’s World Cup

Reporting from Ross on Wye, England —  They were world champions in 1991 and 1999 and finished third in 1995, 2003 and 2007.

And in 2011, what then for the U.S. women’s national soccer team?

It will all depend on what happens Sunday afternoon (8:30 a.m. PDT) in Dresden, Germany, where the Americans will be playing unbeaten and untied Brazil in the quarterfinals of the sixth Women’s World Cup.

The outcome is anyone’s guess. The game is a rematch of the 2008 Olympic final in Beijing, where Carli Lloyd’s overtime goal gave the U.S. a 1-0 victory and a second consecutive Olympic gold medal.

The Brazilians, naturally, are intent on reversing that result this time around, and on making up for the disappointment of Athens 2004, when they also lost the Olympic final in overtime to the U.S., and of 2007, when they lost to Germany in the Women’s World Cup final.

As former standout U.S. goalkeeper Briana Scurry told ESPN before the tournament began, “The [Brazilians] are tired of being the bridesmaid. They want to be the bride.”

No one is more focused on that goal than mesmerizing forward and five-time world player of the year Marta, who told Yahoo Sports that she wants to “achieve something that I have not [achieved] before and to give this gift to my country.”

Marta, 25, might be the best women’s player on the planet at the moment, but she has a fiery temperament and can be thrown off her game if things don’t go her way. The U.S. is likely to try to exploit that.

It is also going to provide the Brazilians with the first real test of their defensive and goalkeeping abilities.

Former U.S. star Julie Foudy, a two-time world champion and two-time Olympic gold-medal winner, and now an ESPN analyst, has called it “a talented but defensively shallow Brazilian side.” But the fact is that Brazil has not allowed a goal in the tournament.

Veteran Brazilian defender Erika explained why.

“This defensive line has been together for a very long time,” she said after Brazil’s 3-0 win over Equatorial Guinea on Wednesday. “It is important to us because we can’t be making changes all the time.

“Our 3-5-2 formation means we have lots of options. But you can’t expect us to put on a show every time. That’s the way Brazil has played in the past, but we lost when it mattered.

“We’re being criticized right now for not always winning, 5-0, or something like that, but we’re composed and we’re successful.”

Trying to rattle that composure will be whichever forwards and attacking midfielders U.S. Coach Pia Sundhage opts to throw at the Brazilians.

The options are many, but the offense is likely to feature Abby Wambach, Amy Rodriguez, Lauren Cheney and Heather O’Reilly. The goals also could just as likely come from Lloyd, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe or Shannon Boxx.

Even U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo, who is in for a busy afternoon trying to contain Marta and company, recognizes that carrying the attack to Brazil will be as necessary as keeping things defensively tight.

“Brazil is a great team with great individual players,” Solo said after Wednesday’s unexpected first-round loss to Sweden, which caused the U.S. to have to play the South Americans in the quarterfinals.

“Of course they have the best individual player, but there are holes. You can find holes in their defense and their midfield, and there’s space to play.

“If we come and play as a team we can come out on top. If we play well, we can really take it to Brazil.”

Defender and U.S. team captain Christie Rampone put it a little differently. “We’ll have to get past them at some point to win the tournament,” she said.

Sunday’s other quarterfinal will pit Sweden against Australia, while Saturday’s two quarterfinals feature host and defending champion Germany playing Japan and England facing France.

grahame.jones@latimes.com