Key events
17 min: Oh dear – a simple pass rolls right through a US midfielder’s legs (Horan, maybe? The one who plays for Lyon?), and Germany are off to the races. Dunn recovers, and it’s a corner kick.
16 min: Lavelle takes a free kick, the results of which aren’t really worth mentioning.
But the USA maintain possession for a bit. As they have all game.
15 min: Peter Oh writes:
Hayes versus Hrubesch is a fascinating clash of managers. I’m old enough to remember Hrubesch knocking in goals for Hamburger SV in the early 80s.
And yes, it sure does sound like Hayes has a natural megaphone built into her vocal cords! Unlike the French language, there’s absolutely no silent H in the USA technical area.
14 min: Must European soccer fans whistle? It’s so unpleasant.
The USA are wearing unusually bright red shorts.
The corner kick is cleared.
13 min: NBC’s Julie Foudy, herself part of that 1991 World Cup team, notes that the US women have scored one goal from a direct free kick in four and a half years.
And it continues.
But they earn a corner kick, on which they sometimes score.
12 min: Hendrich hauls down Smith 22 yards out. This would be trouble if the USA could score on a set piece.
10 min: Another German attack, and Girma perfectly times a tackle. Then tracking back to win the ball and earn a foul is … can you guess which US forward?
9 min: Two minutes have elapsed since the last US shot. Germany are just now getting into the attacking third for the first time. Girma bids the ball adieu.
Will Battersby: “Because you sullied football coverage with a mention of Duke I feel duty-bound as the father of a soon-to-be Tar Heel freshman, that 2 of the US starting lineup are UNC alumni. Did any attend Duke?”
No, but Duke had an alum on Nigeria’s team. So there.
(My wife went to UNC. I also have a first-year collegian going to the other coast.)
7 min: It’s a third save for Berger, and they’ve all been too easy. Smith shoots straight at her from a little left of the goal, 16 yards out.
6 min: My goodness, Emma Hayes is loud.
Paul Pooley gets three of the “triple-edged sword” from the 1991 World Cup – Michelle Akers and Carin Jennings (later Gabarra). The third was not Mia Hamm.
4 min: It should be 1-0. Rodman is away into space. She centers. Swanson lets it go to Lavelle, who has a wide-open shot from 15 yards. But it’s right at Berger.
2 mins: The free kick sails to the far post, where Davidson gets a solid header on it, but Berger read it well the whole way.
2 mins: Lohmann fouls Crystal Dunn, who is already getting up into the attack. She’s listed as an attacker on the roster. As they always said about Roberto Carlos, left back is where she can be found in case of emergency.
Kickoff: It seems to be a larger crowd, but the fans are so quiet that we can hear everything the players are yelling to each other.
From a correspondent in Aberdeen:
I have been avidly following this tournament, but, although there has been some excitement, the standard of play has been disappointing. I endured all four QFs on Saturday – and I use the word “endured” deliberately.
Many are assuming that we will see the USA playing Spain later this week – and I do, too – but it may be in the Bronze Medal match.
USA may have beaten Japan in their QF, but the Americans were awful in possession, continually giving the ball away. I think the Germans will have learned from their defeat by the USA in the group game, and, it is to their advantage that the toiling Popp is not playing.
Germany to take it.
I think that’s a bit extreme. No way Spain end up playing for bronze.
As if to underscore the point – I just watched a minute of skateboarding, and Team GB’s Sky Brown pushed the USA’s Bryce Wettstein off the podium after two runs.
So my apologies to Emma Hayes and company. If Germany wins, it’s clearly my fault.
A bad omen for the USA – apparently, this is going to be one of those days in which US teams do well when I am not watching. The women’s volleyball team had a big lead in Set 1 until I tuned in. They almost lost that set. Without my attention, they cruised through Set 2.
It’s not that I’m that much of a “homer.” But the universe does strange things to those who share an affiliation with me when I’m watching. I’m not sure Duke has won a basketball game I’ve watched since 1992. My high school got really good at football decades after I graduated. And so on.
Germany lineup
Goalkeeper: Ann-Katrin Berger (Gotham FC)
Defense (left to right): Felicitas Rauch (North Carolina), Marina Hegering (Wolfsburg), Kathrin Hendrich (Wolfsburg), captain Giulia Gwinn (Bayern Munich)
Midfield (left to right): Klara Bühl (Bayern Munich), Janina Minge (Freiburg), Sydney Lohmann (Bayern Munich), Jule Brand (Wolfsburg)
Forward: Nicole Anyomi (Eintracht Frankfurt), Sjoeke Nüsken (Chelsea/ENG)
Three of the starters – Rauch, Minge and Anyomi – were originally alternates. Germany are missing Alexandra Popp (ill) and Lea Schüller (knee tendon inflammation). Lohmann slides into Popp’s center midfield place. Anyomi replaces Schüller.
Berger was superb in the win over Canada and even took the clinching penalty kick herself before a sedate crowd of 12,517 in Marseille, which must be distracted by all the sailing delays. The bad news: Germany managed only one shot on target. And now they’re facing Naomi Girma and a returning Tierna Davidson.
According to The Guardian’s list of the top 100 female footballers in the world, Popp is 6th, Lena Oberdorf 16th, Bühl 72nd, Merle Frohms 81st, Lina Magull 97th. Frohms is available as the backup keeper. Bühl is playing. The other three players on that list are not. Oberdorf is out with a knee injury.
On paper, this is not a team that should challenge the USA. But again – it’s Germany.
US lineup
Let’s all gaze upon US Soccer’s elegant lineup announcement, then take note of what’s new today:
The Semifinal XI vs Germany 🇺🇸 #USWNT x @Visa
Lineup Notes ⤵️
— U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (@USWNT) August 6, 2024
Note the name Tierna Davidson. The center back returns from injury today (by the rules of the Olympics’ painfully short rosters, Emily Sams returns to the reserve list), and Sam Coffey is back from suspension. They both go straight back into the starting XI, which means versatile defender/defensive mid Emily Sonnett and center mid Korbin Albert will be potent options off the bench.
In case you need more detail on these players:
Goalkeeper: Alyssa Naeher (Chicago)
Defense (left to right): Crystal Dunn (Gotham FC), Tierna Davidson (Gotham FC), Naomi Girma (San Diego), Emily Fox (Arsenal/ENG)
Midfield (defensive to less defensive): Sam Coffey (Portland), Lindsey Horan (Lyon/FRA), and Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC)
Forward (left to right): Sophia Smith (Portland), Mallory Swanson (Chicago), Trinity Rodman (Washington)
After Albert enjoyed a trip to Parc des Princes, her “home” stadium at Paris Saint-Germain, Horan gets a turn playing at her home of Lyon.
The Olympic results feed posits this as a 4-5-1 with Smith running alone up front while Swanson and Rodman flank Lavelle in midfield. They move fluidly – you’ll see Rodman on the left or Swanson all over the place at times – but that seems a stretch.
Preamble
Welcome to a game that may be seen as a referendum on legendary English manager Emma Hayes but is really more of a challenge to the US women’s soccer team’s vaunted frontline, which seems to have dipped in productivity since ripping four goals past Germany and starting the search for a nickname as cool as “the triple-edged sword,” the tag given to the women who lit up the first-ever Women’s World Cup in 1991.
Points given (or credit in this commentary) to anyone who can name the three players who earned that nickname.
More importantly, this game will determine whether the USA or Germany will play for gold.
Though the USA took a 4-1 decision in group play, and Germany labored past Canada with a 0-0 draw and a penalty shootout win (by Germany? Who’d have thought?), no one will be taking this game lightly. The US women have some injury concerns, and … well … it’s Germany.
Beau will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s how the US got here:
The United States women’s national team under new broom Emma Hayes are two wins from a record-extending fifth Olympic gold medal, after a Trinity Rodman wonder strike in extra time broke open a tightly contested quarter-final with Japan that failed to catch fire until the final reel.
The women’s football tournament at these Paris Games should at least begin to determine whether the Americans’ torpid 46-month run under the departed Vlatko Andonovski will be remembered merely as a flop period or, as a practically salivating global football establishment have openly manifested, a permanent regression from the class of perennial favorite.
The jury remains out but early returns are promising. Hayes, the former Chelsea manager who took the reins two months ago, has guided the US to four wins in her first four meaningful games. Held to only four goals in as many games during last year’s World Cup washout, the Americans smashed in nine on a perfect run through the Olympic group stage. The wait for a 10th on Saturday afternoon was an often uncomfortable one, but its arrival brought Hayes’ squad within touching distance of the podium.
“It was very tactical,” Hayes said. “That’s why I liked it so much. It was a match of grit and determination. It was decided by one moment of brilliance.”
You can read the full report below:
