Their track record held against Germany, despite a penalty kick in the second half; Celia Sasic shot wide and missed.
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(Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP). “I did the stall tactic, it worked”, said Solo in an interview with FS1. “It’s a team sport and today my team saved me”.
“It was definitely an emotional roller-coaster, as I’m sure you saw”.
Changes to the tactical formation by Coach Jill Ellis and leadership on both ends of the field resulted in the team’s best performance yet in the tournament. “It’s [about] guts tonight and I’m just so so pleased for them”.
Germany entered with the most prolific attack in this tournament, but the US defense yielded nothing, limiting Germany’s to a single shot on goal. Mittag and Sasic are no strangers to goals and knowing the United States have not been tested very much could propel them to go for some early attempts and rattle the nerves of the American defense.
The USA will play the victor of Japan-England in the World Cup final on Sunday in Vancouver.
Carli Lloyd has emerged as the star of the US Women’s Soccer team during this year’s World Cup.
“In a way maybe it’s good for us”, German coach Silvia Neid said through a translator about the consolation game.
A tweaked lineup in the semi-final proved fruitful for the sometimes-struggling offense, but the U.S. women will need more of the same in the final on Sunday. The Japanese women beat the United States in the 2011 final on penalty kicks.
But the constant force behind the United States’ success over the past month in Canada hasn’t been the much-talked about attack led by Alex Morgan and Abby Wambach. “It came together and I think we have an even better game in us for the finals”.
“I’m here to win this thing”, Lloyd said. “We’ll be ready to go”.
On 20 minutes, the U.S. came close to breaking the deadlock after a cross from Tobin Heath was met by the diving header of Kelly O’Hara, whose effort was inches away from the target. But the referee gave Johnston a yellow.
“I’m excited. It’s a rematch from four years ago, ” Krieger said.
Sasic is the leading scorer in the tournament, with six goals in Germany’s first five games.
The Americans were then awarded a contested penalty when Alex Morgan was brought down by defender Annike Krahn in a tackle that looked outside the box.
There was a scary moment in the first half when Germanys Alexandra Popp and American midfielder Morgan Brian collided in front of the USA goal following a free kick from about 25 yards out. Both will be able to return against Germany.
Overall, the United States is 18-4-7 against the Germans. We ve got a game to play, Carli Lloyd said she told Johnston. The team, despite an enormous amount of talent, had hardly been playing its best soccer, while Germany had just defeated France and Sweden, ranked 3rd and 4th, respectively.
The tournament has played out with Federation Internationale de Football Association embroiled in scandal.
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It was the fourth World Cup meeting between Germany and the USA In each of the first three games, the victor went on to take the title.
