U.S. beats No. 1 Germany 2-0 in Women’s World Cup semifinal

U.S. beats No. 1 Germany 2-0 in Women’s World Cup semifinal

The U.S. women found their resurrection with a 2-0 semifinal victory over Germany, touching off a hearty celebration and leaving a World Cup title squarely in their sights.

Lloyd has now clearly replaced Abby Wambach as the veteran on-field leader of this team, a player deeply respected for having scored the winning goals in the 2008 and ’12 Olympic finals.

[...] when Johnston was called for a penalty in the box in the 59th minute, Solo relished the opportunity of a staredown with Celia Sasic, the tournament’s leading scorer with six goals.

The Germans hadn’t ever missed a penalty kick in World Cup play.

Solo, not caring a whit about any of this, took her sweet time establishing her position and perhaps planted a tiny seed of doubt in Sasic’s game plan.

[...] when Lloyd stepped up to deliver a clutch penalty kick for a 1-0 lead in the 67th minute, it really shouldn’t have happened; the violation on Annike Krahn, taking down Alex Morgan, occurred just outside the box.

O’Hara is a former Stanford star who has earned 58 caps with the national team, including a World Cup appearance and an Olympic gold medal, and she earned the right to enter this game (replacing Tobin Heath in the 75th minute) with a sparkling quarterfinal performance against China.

How fitting that another substitute, the aging Abby Wambach, set O’Hara’s table so nicely by fighting off a fierce challenge in the far left corner and maintaining U.S. possession.