Hope Solo

This week, women’s soccer has a matchup any sports promoter want to make.

The USA is ranked No. 1. Germany is No. 2.

The USA won the 2008 Olympics. Germany has won the last two World Cups and the 2009 European championship.

The USA has a well-established college match and a new professional league, WPS. Germany is the only major European country to keep its players home in its domestic league, the Bundesliga, which has three of the final 16 teams in Europe’s new Champions League.

Thursday’s match (1 p.m. ET) has no Olympic or World Cup ramifications but is nevertheless a clash of superpowers in Impuls Arena in Augsburg, Germany, one of the venues for the 2011 World Cup.

“I wouldn’t say it’s friendly,” U.S. coach Pia Sundhage says. “It is really an vital match for all of us.”

“The buildup to this match feels different,” goalkeeper Hope Solo says. “We’re having more meetings, we’re watching film on Germany. They just got done winning the Euros, putting on quite a performance in the final (6-2 over England). Everybody knows they’re on top of their match right now.

“We’re getting the opportunity not only to play one of the best teams in the world, as prepared as they could be at this point in time, but also in a stadium with 30,000-plus people. You really can’t beat that.”

The U.S. team has noticed excitement in Germany. The match is sold out and will be on live television in Germany, though not in the USA.

Solo says she has seen signs all over town and some animated ads in the subway, and a group of players traveling in Munich attracted some curiosity.

“You can tell there’s a sense of pride for their women’s football team,” Solo says. “The last World Cup, they brought home the trophy to thousands and thousands of fans waiting for them when they stepped off that plane. To this day, seeing that, it gave me hope for something so much larger for what football for women could be.”

Small wonder Germany is placing such an emphasis on its World Cup defense on home soil. The players are remaining in the Bundesliga to be closer together heading into the tournament.

“Some of the games and some of the teams in the Bundesliga are as excellent as WPS,” Sundhage says. “The largest difference — all the players are professional in WPS. Every single match is competitive. I wouldn’t say that’s the same thing in Germany or Sweden or Norway. That is unique for WPS.”

With WPS’ first season completed, this match is the first chance to answer a couple of questions: How much has that sort of week-to-week pressure helped the U.S. players? And how will WPS play change the talent pool?

Ella Masar (Chicago) and Brittany Bock (Los Angeles) are looking for their first international appearances, and WPS play has helped Amy LePeilbet (Boston), Lori Lindsey (Washington/Philadelphia) and Yael Averbuch (Sky Blue) emerge or re-emerge with the team.

“We’re a very different team right now, no doubt about that,” Hope Solo says.