Fans of soccer in the U.S. for the most part are tuning out of the Women’s World Cup being played in China through the end of September. Blame it on a combination of time differences (most of the games are being played in the middle of the night here) and a lack of marketing and PR by U.S. Soccer. Sure, we’ve seen a few of the commercials touting the U.S. Women’s team as “the best team you’ve never seen” or something to that effect. But the effort is a case of too little, too late.

It’s not like the product on the field is not good. The U.S. is currently ranked number one in the world which plays attractive attacking soccer. Can they win their third world title? The U.S. has been placed in a very difficult “group of death” with North Korea, Sweden and Nigeria. The U.S. tied North Korea in a difficult, wet 2-2 match last week, and followed it up with a 2-0 victory over #3 ranked Sweden. A victory against Nigeria all but assures them of first place in the group and a spot in the quarterfinals.

The match against Nigeria will be on ESPN at 8:00 AM EST on September 18th. If you can wake up early or set your Tivo, you will probably be rewarded with some quality soccer.