USA emerged victorious against Germany in the FIFA Women's World Cup semi-final, earning them a place in the final against either Japan or England. It will be USA's fourth appearance in the Women's World Cup final.

The teams fought a grind out game in front of a 50,000-strong crowd at the Olympic stadium in Montreal. Team USA willed two goals, ending Germany's World Cup aspirations and sending them home.

The Olympic champs USA took pride in their stellar defense, reported CNN. In five games preceding the Germany match, only Australia was able to make it past the ironclad goalkeeper Hope Solo in the opening match of the tourney.

The victors surprised Germany as coach Jill Ellis used a 4-3-2-1 formation with Alex Morgan as the only striker, ditching their heavily-criticized 4-4-2 formation. As the outcome would explain, the plan worked splendidly, giving Morgan several chances throughout the match.

At halftime, the game remained scoreless. At the 58th minute in the second half, Germany striker Celia Sasic had a chance to give her team the lead, but she missed a penalty kick.

The night's tipping point came when Morgan was fouled by German center back Annike Krahn as she entered the penalty area.

Houston Dash midfielder Carli Lloyd buried the penalty kick and set up a brilliant assist for Kelley O'Hara to bullet in the game-ending goal.


"We did a good job getting behind their back line," Morgan told reporters as quoted by Yahoo. "We could have exploited them a lot more."

Even Germany players admitted that the USA dictated the pace of the game from the beginning. "They were very aggressive," German forward Anja Mittag said. "They were good at holding the ball."

Their ball handling proved to be the key in their last two outings. What used to be a sticking place for their offense is now a theater to the sharp passion USA demonstrated. USA midfielder Morgan Brian pit herself against much older players as she established her stronghold at the midfield. She is the youngest player in the tournament, being born in 1993.

"I told her a year ago she would be starting in the World Cup," said her teammate midfielder Lauren Holiday. "Defensively, she has controlled the center of the field. She's owned it."

The Germans held 52 percent of the possessions and had five more shots than USA's 11, but none of the German attempts were on target. USA had twice as much corner kicks at eight as opposed to Germany's four.

The win has propelled USA to the World Cup final, one win away from claiming the title this year.

"We didn't come here to make the final," Lloyd said. "We came here to win it."