Tale of Two Penalties as Germany Crash out of the FIFA Women's World Cup

For the fourth time in seven tournaments, the United States of America will play in the final of the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Germany’s hopes of winning a third crown disappeared in Montreal on Tuesday as they lost the semi-final 2-0 in the Olympic Stadium.

Just moments after Celia Sasic missed from the penalty spot in the 63rd minute, Carli Lloyd opened the scoring with her own spot-kick after Annike Krahn was judged to have fouled Alex Morgan in the penalty area.

With just six minutes to go, Kelley O’Hara put the result beyond doubt, knocking home Lloyd’s cross from the left after some excellent play down the left. That sealed the victory, and the Germans were left to rue missed chances and what was a less-than-stellar performance.

The game started extremely quickly with both teams flying out the blocks. Germany had begun slowly against France and were obviously looking to rectify that, but the U.S. had the same idea, making it a very open first 15 minutes.

It was clear from their strong start that the USA meant business. It was Jill Ellis’ side that were edging the 50/50 battles and looked quicker and sharper to the ball.

Starting up front on her own, Morgan did well on a number of occasions to fashion openings in front of the German goal. The Portland Thorns striker had a number of good chances, with her NWSL team-mate Nadine Angerer denying her a second World Cup goal. The U.S. forward would have been disappointed not to have finished stronger, but the German is a formidable opponent in one-on-one situations.

Despite not creating any clear-cut chances, it seemed that Germany were always in the game and would get their opportunity at some point.

Julie Johnston’s performances at this tournament have been nothing short of spectacular, but the centre-back was lucky to stay on the pitch on Tuesday. When the 23-year-old let a high speculative ball bounce in the box, Alexandra Popp jumped ahead of her and Johnston pulled the forward down.

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Hope Solo did her best to keep Sasic waiting, and it worked to perfection as the tournament’s top scorer skewed her penalty wide of the left post. The Frankfurt striker continued to look for the bottom corner, just as she had twice against France, but this time she couldn’t find the target.

After scoring a controversial penalty against France, the shoe was on the other foot just six minutes later when Krahn brought down Morgan on the edge of the box. The initial contact was outside the box, but referee Teodora Albon pointed to the spot.

After she was successful with her penalty against Colombia, Lloyd would take control of the situation. She made no mistake, going to Angerer’s left and sending the German ‘keeper the wrong way.

German national teams have a history and a reputation of winning games on penalties, yet it has not been the same with the women’s team. Their shootout win against France in the quarter-finals was the first time they had been involved in one.

The normal ice-cool German style from the spot deserted Sasic on Tuesday evening, and in true dramatic fashion, they were made to pay. It’s obvious to point out that the game would have been different if the striker had tucked away her chance, but the game seemed to slip from Silvia Neid’s side once the ball flew past the post.

Germany failed to create any clear-cut chances, missing the creative talents of a fully fit Dzsenifer Marozsan and the missing Nadine Kessler. The U.S. cut off the supply to Anja Mittag, Sasic and Popp, and the tournament favourites failed to find a Plan B.

Now, they will play for third place at this World Cup, which won’t be of any consolation to a team of Germany’s stature. They will have to wait another four years to win their third World Cup, and they will have to watch next Sunday as the USA have a chance to end their drought and win a record third title.