The U.S. Women’s National Team downed FIFA #1-ranked Germany 2-0 at Olympic Stadium to advance to the Final of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup. It will be the fourth World Cup final appearance for the USA.
The first half was a balanced affair with both teams pressing and having opportunities to get on the board yet neither was able to capitalize. In the second half, things got going when U.S. defender Julie Johnston was called for a foul inside the penalty box in the 59th minute for pulling down Alexandra Popp. Celia Sasic stepped up to take the penalty kick but missed wide left to keep the game scoreless.
Almost ten minutes later, Alex Morgan got fouled in the box and it was the USA’s turn to attempt a PK. Carli Lloyd confidently netted the shot to give the USA the lead before assisting on Kelley O’Hara’s 84th-minute strike – the first of her international career – to secure the U.S. win.
Hope Solo and the USA back line continued to shut down opponents and has now kept a scoreless streak for 513 straight minutes (a span of more than five-and-a-half matches) in this year’s World Cup, the longest clean sheet streak in U.S. World Cup history.
It was Solo’s 10th clean sheet in World Cup play, tying Brianna Scurry’s record for shutouts in World Cup competition. The 10 clean sheets in a World Cup are not only a U.S. record, but also a FIFA Women’s World Cup record.
The WNT will vie for its third Women’s World Cup title on Sunday, July 5 at 4 p.m. PT, when it takes on the winner of the other Semifinal between England and Japan, which will be determined tomorrow, at BC Place in Vancouver, Canada. The tournament Final will be broadcast live on FOX and Telemundo.
Milestone Watch:
- Hope Solo recorded her 89th career shutout. It was the fifth straight World Cup clean sheet for the USA, and Solo’s 10th in World Cup play, tying Brian Scurry for the most by a U.S. goalkeeper.
- Carli Lloyd is the third U.S. WNT player to score in three straight games in a World Cup, joining Michelle Akers (1991) and Abby Wambach (twice; in 2003 and 2011).
- The U.S. now holds a 19-4-7 all-time record against Germany, outscoring the Germans 62-29. The USA hasn’t lost to Germany since 2003 and has gone 7-0-5 since then.
- Kelley O’Hara made her third career World Cup appearance in the second half, and scored her first career international goal for the WNT.
- The USA will be making its fourth appearance in a FIFA Women’s World Cup Final. Germany is the only other team to have reached the final that amount of times.
Additional Notes:
- This was the fourth time the U.S. met Germany in Women’s World Cup play, the USA has a 3-1-0 advantage in these matches.
- Carli Lloyd has scored in three straight games for the WNT. Her goal in the second half was her fourth career World Cup strike and her 66th overall.
- Since allowing a goal against Australia in its opening match on June 8 in the 27th minute, the U.S. has shut out Sweden, Nigeria, Colombia, China and Germany – a stretch of 513 consecutive minutes.
- Defender Becky Sauerbrunn is the only player on the roster to start and play every game for the USA in 2015. She has played the most minutes (1,419) of anyone on the team.
- Five U.S. players have played all 540 minutes of the tournament so far: defenders Julie Johnston, Meghan Klingenberg, Sauerbrunn, midfielder Carli Lloyd, and goalkeeper Hope Solo.
- In its last 16 games, the U.S. has surrendered just three goals and has scored 29.
- So far, 19 of the 20 field players on the World Cup roster have seen action in the tournament.
- Germany lost by two goals for the first time in 26 Women’s World Cup games. The last time was in the 1995 final (2-0 to Norway).
- The USA is the third country to reach consecutive Women’s World Cup finals (Germany – 2003/07) (Norway – 1991/95).
- Coming on as a sub in the second half, Wambach played in her 24th career WWC game, tied for second most all-time with Julie Foudy, Brigit Prinz and Formiga. Only Kristine Lilly has more (30).
- Twelve different players have scored for the USA in 2015: Kelley O’Hara, Morgan, Wambach, Rodriguez, Press, Johnston, Klingenberg, Rapinoe, Brian, Chalupny, Leroux and Lloyd.
- The game was the first time that Germany was shutout in this tournament and held to one shot on goal. Germany was averaging 12 shots on goal before tonight’s match and had outscored opponents 20-3.
- The U.S. WNT is 33-4-5 all-time in the Women’s World Cup, outscoring its opponents 107-33 in 42 games. The 33 wins and 42 games played are FIFA Women’s World Cup records.
– U.S. Women’s National Team Match Report –
Match: U.S. Women’s National Team vs. Germany
Date: June 30, 2015
Competition: 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup – Semifinal
Venue: Olympic Stadium; Montreal, Canada
Kickoff: 7 p.m. ET
Attendance: 51,176
Weather: Indoor Stadium
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
USA 0 2 2
GER 0 0 0
USA – Carli Lloyd (penalty kick) 69th minute
USA – Kelley O’Hara (Carli Lloyd) 84
Lineups:
USA: 1-Hope Solo; 11-Ali Krieger, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 19-Julie Johnston, 22-Meghan Klingenberg; 12-Lauren Holiday, 14-Morgan Brian, 10-Carli Lloyd (capt.), 15-Megan Rapinoe (20-Abby Wambach,80), 13-Alex Morgan (2-Sydney Leroux, 90+3), 17-Tobin Heath (5-Kelley O’Hara, 75)
Subs Not Used: 3-Christie Rampone, 6-Whitney Engen, 7-Shannon Boxx, 8-Amy Rodriguez, 9-Heather O’Reilly, 16-Lori Chalupny,18-Ashlyn Harris, 21-Alyssa Naeher, 23-Christen Press
Head coach: Jill Ellis
GER : 1-Nadine Angerer (capt.); 4-Leonie Maier, 5-Annike Krahn, 3-Saskia Bartusiak, 22-Tabea Kemme; 6-Simone Laudehr, 20-Lena Goessling, 11-Anja Mittag (10-Dzsenifer Marozsan, 78), 16-Melanie Leupolz, 18-Alexandra Popp; 13-Celia Sasic
Subs not used: 2-Bianca Schmidt, 7-Melanie Behringer, 8-Pauline Bremer, 9-Lena Lotzen, 12-Almuth Schult, 14-Babett Peter, 15-Jennifer Cramer, 17-Josephine Henning, 19-Lena Petermann, 21-Laura Benkarth, 23-Sara Daebritz
Head coach: Silvia Neid
Stats Summary: USA / GER
Shots: 12 / 15
Shots on Goal: 5 / 1
Saves: 1 / 3
Corner Kicks: 8 / 4
Fouls: 10 / 11
Offside: 1 / 1
Misconduct Summary:
GER – Leonie Maier (caution) 34th minute
USA – Becky Sauerbrunn (caution) 38
USA – Julie Johnston (caution) 59
GER – Annike Krahn (caution) 69
Officials:
Referee: Teodora Albon (ROU)
Assistant Referee 1: Petruta Iugulescu (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Maria Sukenikova (SVK)
Fourth Official: Salome di Iorio (ARG)