The image is iconic. It's familiar to nearly every American citizen. The moment in time has been enshrined in the pantheon of great American sporting events, and it is the measuring stick against which every future United States Women's National Team World Cup campaign will be judged against.

Yes, this writer is referring to Brandi Chastain's game winning penalty against China in the 1999 Women's World Cup Final. It is, if not the great moment in women's footballing history, one of the great moments. 

The USWNT have met China on plenty of occasions since then, but never again in World Cup play, and only once in major tournament action, at the 2000 Olympics. The meeting between these two teams on Friday, however, has the potential to be even more important than the match in 1999.

The current Women's World Cup, the one being played in Canada, has captivated the attention of the American public in spite of the fact that the USWNT have not played up to scratch thus far in the tournament. Television ratings have been through the roof, and several million people will tune in on Friday night. 

Many will be expecting to tune in to an easy victory for the United States, but this will be anything but. China have impressed all tournament long, and will pose a difficult challenge for the Americans.

The Chinese scraped through the Group Stage with four points, beating the Netherlands on a stoppage time goal from Wang Lisi, and drawing with New Zealand after losing to Canada in the opening match. Then, in the Round of 16 they defeated Cameroon 1-0 on a goal from Wang Sh Sh.

China is a strong, disciplined, organized team. They know how to defend, and they frustrated Canada to no end in the tournament's opening match, and probably should have beaten the host nation. Were it not for a hugely controversial penalty and a free kick which came back off the bar, they probably would have.

They enter feeling confident because, as manager Hao Wei put it on Thursday, "The team is making steady progress. Of course there is still room for improvement, big room."

Meanwhile the United States will enter surrounded by criticism. The Americans have yet to play like a team which can actually win the World Cup, and although they've won three of their four matches comfortably they just haven't played well.

The players and coaching staff are aware of the problems, as manager Jill Ellis illustrated in her prematch press conference on Thursday.

"[The players] understand that we need to continue to raise our level with each round," Ellis said at Thursday's news conference. "It's not a matter of being satisfied. These are players that love challenges. The coaches in here have high expectations, but it's about getting them to that point. We're capable of a lot more, and that's the expectation on ourselves."

The attack has been disjointed, they've struggled to create chances and the midfield has been unable to impose itself. They have defended superbly, and haven't conceded since the opening match of the tournament. Yet, the aura surrounding this team has been nothing but negative.

Heading into the tournament, all of the talk from the American camp was about the turf and how bad the playing surface would prove to be. As the tournament wore on, the question became: should Abby Wambach start? 

Then, the selection drama continued with questions arising over what formation and starting XI the team should use. Finally, the bad blood inside the camp culminated when Wambach spoke about the refereeing in the Round of 16 match against Colombia.

Both Lauren Holliday and Megan Rapinoe picked up their second yellow cards of the tournament in that match, and Wambach had some harsh words for the referee afterwards.

"It seemed like she was purposefully giving those yellows to the players she knew were sitting on yellows," Wambach said in the mixed zone after the match. "I don't know if it was just a psychological thing. Who knows?"

She went on to apologize just a day later, saying this: "I'm not in the referee's head, and that's something I definitely take ownership of and apologize for, because I don't know what the referee is thinking. In no way did I intend to offend her – and my biggest apologies if it was offensive in any way."

The apology means that she will avoid a suspension, but it only serves to intensify the spotlight being shined on the American camp. If they don't beat China, some serious soul searching will be needed.

It's expected that the Americans will line up quite differently against China, given that Rapinoe and Holliday are suspended. What will determine the formation is whether or not Wambach starts. She has struggled throughout the tournament, and was poor against Colombia, missing a penalty. 

If she does start, it's likely that some sort of a 4-3-2-1 or 4-4-2 will be used with Christen Press and Morgan Brian stepping into the lineup. However, if she doesn't start, the forward line will likely set up in a 4-3-3 and will look completely different. 

The 1999 tournament was the culmination of American womens football's first golden generation. This current generation has won two Olympic Gold Medals and been to a World Cup Final, but has never won womens football's biggest prize. 

Will tomorrow mark the end of the Wambach-Shannon Boxx-Hope Solo generation? Or will it show that they have one last, great run left, which will culminate in them winning the only thing they've yet to win? Only time will tell.