The USWNT will shoot their shot at advancing to their first gold medal match since 2012 today, taking on Group B runner-up Germany in first of two Olympic semifinals.
The US defeated Germany 4-1 in the second match of the tournament, injecting some fire into what would become the USWNT’s most successful Olympic group stage run since 2012.
Germany a familiar USWNT tournament foe
Today’s matchup will be the first time the US has faced any nation other than Canada in an Olympic semifinal since 2008, but Germany is just as familiar a foe.
This is the fifth time the US has played Germany in a major tournament semifinal — the most between two nations in both Women’s World Cup and Olympic history. The US got past Germany at both the 1991 and 2015 World Cups plus the 2004 Olympics, while Germany got the best of the USWNT at the 2003 World Cup.
Howevern, both teams will enter the match with heavy legs, after each of their quarterfinals went into extra time on Saturday. The US avoided going to penalties thanks to a Trinity Rodman goal against Japan in the 107th minute, while Germany…
