USA v Germany: Paris Olympics women’s soccer semi-final – live | Paris Olympic Games 2024

Joe Pearson clarifies the stat: “Opta gives the shot at 23:48 to Brand; the one at 27:07 to Nüsken. I thought you were referring to the latter.”

I don’t mind the long lob going uncredited – one could argue that it was a long pass that got away and sailed to Naeher. Brand’s shot on goal was the best opportunity of the game.

Here’s a pet theory:

US players lack the quality on finishing or on that final pass in the attacking third because they grow up playing in so many uncompetitive games in which their youth teams crush another youth team 10-0 or something like that. It’s easy to look like a monster when you get 20 chances and just need to finish two or three of them. It’s more difficult when you get two chances and score on one.

Granted, this theory is undermined by the fact that the NWSL is far more competitive from top to bottom than the leagues in Germany and Spain.

Halftime: USA lead 0-0

45 min: Hegering will need to be careful now. She can only foul three more times. Maybe four.

Horan fouls as the free kick is floated again, another set piece in which the USA are not convincing.

44 min: YELLOW CARD TO HEGERING. Fourth time’s a charm, and she cynically knocked down Swanson just as Rodman was preparing to pass to her linemate.

42 min: The German leaders at the moment: Hegering has 3 fouls, Brand 2, then 1 each for Hendrich, Lohmann, Nüsken, Rauch and Anyomi.

The latter seemed to be the most painful, as Fox didn’t recover all that quickly.

41 min: Champion does note, though, that one of the nicknames they were considering is the name of a Chinese crime syndicate.

The ball is played away from one of the three, Trinity Rodman.

40 min: Julie Foudy and Jon Champion of NBC are trying to nail down a nickname for the three US forwards.

Let’s talk after they score in this game.

38 min: ESPN’s stat feed says it was Brand who had the German shot on goal.

Maybe we have three games in alternate universes. It was only a matter of time before the USWNT joined the MCU.

37 min: Smith misfires from the top of the area.

Dunn maintains possession but passes aimlessly.

Horan wins a corner.

36 min: Just for a change of pace, Smith is dispossessed cleanly for a change.

But then Anyomi barges into Fox. That’s eight or nine fouls on Germany, depending on which site you’re checking, and it’s getting frankly comical. Persistent infringement is a thing. Trust me. I’m a ref. (Or I can read.)

33 min: The official IOC site maintains that Germany have had no shots at all and therefore none on target. I must have hallucinated.

They get another one, but it’s a long-range effort that arcs gently into Naeher’s arms.

32 min: Smith is away on the left and tries to center it back to Swanson, but Germany intercept.

31 min: THAT, the official stats feed records as a shot. Not the shot that made Naeher sprawl and tip to the recovering Dunn.

Joe Pearson says Nüsken had the shot in question.

30 min: Lavelle takes the free kick and places it impeccably on the head of a German defender.

The USA regain possession, and Horan puts a semi-shot into Berger’s hands.

29 min: The IOC results feed has not mentioned the German shot of a few minutes ago, which is a bit because I wanted to credit the player who had it but wasn’t able to catch her number.

Smith is hauled down again by Hegering, and the referee should really be doing more than awarding a free kick from which the USA will not score. There are these things in her pocket called “cards.” Unless she forgot something.

27 min: Joe Pearson: “So Rose Lavelle is sporting a single performance sleeve on her left leg. Do we think this is to help with an injury, or is she just channeling her inner Angel Reese?”

Lavelle is so frequently injured that I can only assume the sleeve is hiding copious quantities of duct tape.

Another half-chance for Germany.

25 min: Coffey steals and passes wide for … you guessed it, Dunn. But her cross is somewhere near Monaco. We’re playing in Lyon.

24 min: CHANCE FOR GERMANY, and Naeher is lucky no other Germany players were forward. Too easy for Germany down the left flank, and Naeher had to move quickly to keep it from rolling in at the far post. The ubiquitous Dunn cleans up.

23 min: We’re in a midfield battle now, which is why I’ve had time to stroll down Duke-UNC memory lane. In the late 80s and early 90s, the Atlantic Coast Conference was arguably the world’s best women’s soccer league.

22 min: Paul Pooley correctly gets the last member of the triple-edged sword. It was onetime US coach April Heinrichs.

“I was at law school at UNC from 86-89. The building is next to Fetzer Field. I spent many an afternoon watching the two best teams in the country (the starters v. the reserves) training. Matches were nowhere near as competitive, e.g., during those years they had a 95-match unbeaten streak (89–0–6). Despite my enduring Duke allegiance I am compelled to acknowledge they were a treat to watch.”

Yeah, but Duke scored the first goal against them in an NCAA final during that spell. Or maybe the next one. I get them confused. US coach Anson Dorrance brought all the best athletes in the sport to UNC. They were gazelles mixed with tanks.

21 min: Naeher somehow gets a punch on the ball while surrounded by 43 players, like an old Mad magazine cartoon.

This is a worrying spell for the USA.

20 min: A bit better from Germany at the moment, and Davidson plays it clear.

This has all the hallmarks of a game in which the USA dominate but Germany finish clinically and win.

Emily Fox heads a long cross clear for a corner.

18 min: Hegering slams Dunn to the ground to stop the USA from racing off on the counter. Being a referee, I’d argue for a yellow card there.

Our officials are: referee Bouchra Karboubi (Morocco), AR Fatiha Jermoumi (Morocco), AR Diana Chikotesha (Zambia) and VAR Ivan Bebek (Croatia).

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

US lineup

Preamble

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: