Set those alarm clocks. In case you missed it, the Women’s World Cup is being held in China.

The soccer games are being played at 4:55 and 7:55 a.m. EDT and they’re televised on ESPN and ESPN2.

The games are a joy to watch and we, as Americans, should be proud of our role in the sport’s growth.

After all, it was the 1999 Women’s World Cup in America that played a major role in putting the event on the map.

Everybody remembers Brandi Chastain’s penalty kick that beat China in the final and Chastain’s exuberant display in which she threw off her jersey and dropped to her knees in celebration.

The muscular Chastain and her sports bra made the cover of Sports Illustrated.

There were 90,185 in attendance at the Rose Bowl and the media coverage was extensive.

That World Cup attracted 660,000 fans and helped spawn the Women’s United Soccer Association.

The league was able to attract the world’s best players, but financial problems caused the league to fold in 2003 after just a three-year run.

However, it is thankfully returning in ’09.

FIFA, the world’s governing soccer body, estimates that there are 40 million girls and women playing the sport and that by 2010, the number will match the number of males.

What has been interesting is watching how other countries have followed our lead in putting an added emphasis on women’s soccer by upgrading the facilities, equipment and coaching.

Even though it means our path to a World Cup championship has become much more difficult to negotiate, the fact the product has become much better and there is more parity makes it much more entertaining.

The current World Cup got off to a rocky start with defending champion Germany’s 11-0 thrashing of Argentina on Monday, but Tuesday’s three matches were all ties, including the U.S. team’s 2-2 draw with North Korea.

And, to be honest, the U.S. team was outplayed by a quicker North Korean team and was lucky to get a point out of it. The North Koreans won a healthy percentage of the 50-50 balls and were dangerous on the counterattack as they were able to use their speed to beat defenders in one-on-one situations.

The Women’s World Cup is more enjoyable to watch than the men’s World Cup.

There are more scoring chances and the women are more honest in that you don’t find nearly as many women theatrically diving to the ground to try to draw a foul call.

Diving is a real problem in the men’s game and it will continue to be until referees consistently issue yellow cards to players who dive.

FIFA is contemplating expanding the tournament from 16 to 24 teams and that would be a positive move.

The men’s World Cup has 32 teams.

The knock on expanding the Women’s World Cup would be a possible watering down of the tournament.

There would be teams in it (i.e., Argentina) that would be overmatched against good teams.

So what? You have to start somewhere.

You don’t think a country as steeped in soccer tradition as Argentina won’t address this?

Sure it will.

A loss like that on the world stage is humiliating.

Larry Mahoney can be reached at 990-8231, 1-800-310-8600 or by email at lmahoney@bangordailynews.net.