Auf Wiedersehen, Germany

During the pre-game show, much was made of Sweden's futility against Germany since 1995. Somebody forgot to tell Sweden that they were "destined" to lose today.  There's an old NFL saying that "defense wins championships".  Sweden's defense was stellar today.  Germany's defense was not.  Germany had not surrendered a single goal throughout the World Cup tournament, but today Sweden cracked the code and scored twice.  As the clock ticked toward 90 minutes, Germany needed a miracle to survive.  They didn't get one.

How did Sweden "crack the code"?  It was the long ball.  Things began promisingly enough for Germany.  Lina Magull gave Germany the lead in the 16th minute after a great finish from a typically fast and direct German attack. But only six minutes later Germany's defense let them down when Linda Sembrant launched a long ball downfield.  Sweden's Sofia Jakobsson outran two German defenders to catch up to the ball, and lo and behold she was one-on-one with German goalie Almuth Schult.  Jakobsson didn't waste the opportunity, shooting past Schult and grabbing the equalizer for Sweden.  Suddenly Germany looked dazed and confused.  The score was tied 1-1 at the half.

This was a very entertaining game.  Both sides were getting up and down the field and attacking in numbers.  This game was played end-to-end, but Sweden's front line were more athletic than was Germany's backline.  Germany has world-class attackers, but inexperienced defenders.  Only two minutes after the second half began, a header toward the far post from Fridolina Rolfo was saved well by Schult, but she couldn't control the rebound.  Stina Blackstenius found the ball at her feet and an empty net in front of her,  Sweden led 2-1.  The Germans look rattled, and that didn't change for the rest of the game.  To these eyes, it also looked like the Swedes handled the scorching heat better than the Germans.

The Germans tried to mount a comeback.  Twice they had shots come tantalizingly close.  Both times they here headers that sailed just over the crossbar.  The chances were there, but Germany failed to capitalize.  Despite getting six extra minutes of stoppage time, Germany couldn't find that tying goal to force extra time.  Given the 90 degree heat, it's just as well the game didn't go to extra time.  The Swedes appeared to have more gas in the tank.  They were the better team.

Sweden now face the current European champions from the Netherlands in the semi-final.  The winner faces the winner of the US/England semi-final.