August 3, 2024; Paris, France; Japanese goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita (1) and American forward Sophia Smith (11) at the Parc des Princes stadium during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Mandatory Credit: Yukihito Taguchi-USA TODAY Sports Sophia Smith scored in the 95th minute and the U.S. women’s national team beat Germany 1-0 in Lyon, France on Tuesday to advance to the gold medal game at the Paris Olympics.
The U.S. will face either Brazil or Spain in Paris on Saturday with a chance to medal for a fifth time and first since London in 2012.
Smith strode to meet Mallory Swanson’s through ball on the right side of the penalty area. Smith blocked the ball from defender Ferry Rauch and then fired the ball past goalkeeper Ann-Katlin Berger, but the goalkeeper came late.
Swanson and Smith each have three goals and two assists in five games.
In the 119th minute, Laura Freigang’s header from close range was met by Alyssa Naeher’s leaping save with her left foot to preserve the victory.
Neher made seven saves for the U.S., which outscored its opponents 11-2 at the Olympics. Berger had nine saves.
This is the second scoreless game in the history of the women’s tournament in the regular season semifinals. The last one was Sweden against Brazil in 2016.
The United States also needed Trinity Rodman’s overtime goal (105+2 minutes) to beat Japan 1-0 in Saturday’s quarterfinals. The U.S. women’s soccer team has played overtime for the second time in a row, following the semifinals and gold medal game at the 2004 Olympics (defeating Germany and Brazil).
The U.S. team defeated Germany 4-1 in the group stage on July 28 and was tied 3-1 at halftime. However, the U.S. team failed to make a breakthrough despite scoring five points in the 45 minutes of the rematch. Six shots were on target, although none could be considered of high quality.
The U.S. women’s soccer team has won a medal at every tournament since its inception in Atlanta in 1996. The team lost to Sweden in the 2016 quarterfinals regarding penalties.
Saturday could be the program’s redemption after its failure at the 2023 Women’s World Cup, when the United States failed to reach the semifinals for the first time in nine attempts.
–Scene-level media
