On the brink of winning gold! USWNT finally made it to the Paris Olympics 2024 finals with a narrow victory over Germany at the Lyon Stadium. The hero of the night turned out to be Sophia Smith who clinched the golden goal for the Star and Stripes. While it stands as an unforgettable highlight in the Portland Thorns star’s career, the problem is that Smith might not be able to recall this crucial moment again as she had zonked out after scoring the winner.  

This came during the post-match interview with NBC’s Mike Tirico. Following the win, when asked to talk about her goal, Smith said:

Notably, today was a similar story for Emma Hayes’ side like the previous quarter-final clash vs Japan, where it was Trinity Rodman’s late goal that took them to the last four. Against Germany, it remained a stalemate throughout the 90 minutes as neither side could break the deadlock. Luckily, Smith finally scored the first goal of the match just five minutes after the opening extra half began, courtesy of an assist from Mallory Swanson.

Celebrations were wild as the whole bench came running towards Smith to commemorate the goal that took them to the final. The match, though, didn’t seem over from Germany’s side as they kept testing the American ladies. However, star goalie Alyssa Naeher and the defense line including the likes of Naomi Girma and Tierna Davidson prevailed against all kinds of attacking threats posed by the German’s attacking front.

Yet again, this doesn’t mean Germany didn’t come prepared. In fact, they played beyond expectations, considering how the previous meet-up went through between both sides.

Once again, Sophia Smith turned out to be a juggernaut against Germany

Germany seems to be the favorite opponent of Sophia Smith. The Portland Thorns forward scored a brace in the previous fixture when USWNT thrashed Germany 4-1 in the group stages. Yet, this scoreline also highlights the fact that Horst Hrubesch and Co. did their homework before taking on Emma Hayes and Co. Though the outcome of the match turned out quite sour for them, the European side successfully managed to make the American ladies struggle to win the game. Yet, it was the 4x World Champions who dominated most of the game.

Smith and her teammates took 18 shots out of which 10 were on target, twice that of Germany (9 shots and 6 on target). The 4x Olympians not only maintained 55% possession but were quite disciplined. Though Team USA committed 8 fouls, it’s nothing compared to Germany making 20 fouls and even bagging three bookings. But being rough against Hayes’ side was a pragmatic step that helped them maintain momentum for the majority of the game.

Overall, it was a decent game from Germany, who certainly gave their all. They won’t be packing their bags now as they are yet to play the third-placed match against the loser of Spain vs Brazil. While the winner will have a face-off against USWNT for a gold.