The defense of the United States team in the ongoing Women’s World Cup 2015 continues to hold up though they did have scary moments against the No.1 ranked team in the world, Germany, before eventually coming out on top of their semifinal pairing.
Seen as impenetrable, the stronghold fort of the US got its biggest scare of the tournament when defender Julie Johnston made the inevitable mistake of trying to chest the ball over to goalkeeper Hope Solo.
The move almost gave Alexandra Popp the chance to score a goal but Johnston tugged her down that resulted in a Yellow Card and a foul inside the penalty area.
A penalty kick was awarded to Germany and the designated kicker was Celia Sasic, the tournament’s leading scorer. The game was scoreless up to that point and Sasic had the golden chance to not only get the game’s first goal but to prove that the U.S. defense was not that invulnerable.
Sasic, who had six goals prior to that penalty, failed miserably as her attempt missed wide left at the 63rd minute – the first penalty miss of team Germany in the Women’s World Cup match. They were 17 of 17 before Sasic’s miss, accounting for the anxious moments up in the air.
With that, the United States have now fended off all opponents from scoring for a total of 513 minutes.
While that botched penalty kick heaved a big sigh of relief, it was what happened six minutes after that sent the US followers into pandemonium.
It was the turn of the US to see how good the defense of Germany was and the answer came after Carli Lloyd converted on a penalty kick to hand the Americans a 1-0 advantage. Lloyd was the designated striker after Alex Morgan got fouled near the top of the penalty area whose momentum eventually carried her into the box.
The made penalty was Lloyd’s third one for the tournament, the second time she converted via penalty. Sealing the deal was Kelley O’ Hara who made a goal in the 84th minute after a Lloyd cross for a commanding 2-0 advantage.
With the win, the US advances to the World Cup Final, awaiting the winner between England vs. Japan.
They face the winner on Sunday at Vancouver, British Columbia, their fourth World Cup Final appearnce.
Between England and Japan however, the team wants another crack at Japan as they seek to revenge for their defeat in 2011.
The USA fell to suffered a loss back in 2011 against Japan, losing out via penalty (3-1).
The United States is looking for its third Women’s World Cup trophy, having won it back in 1991 and 1999.