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U.S. U-20 women defeat Nigeria to advance to World Cup final

U.S. Soccer Federation

The U.S. Under-20 women's national team will get a chance to make up for its one major blemish at this year's World Cup on the biggest possible stage.

Goals from Morgan Brian and Keaila Ohai lifted the U.S. U-20s to a 2-0 victory over Nigeria in the semifinals at National Olympic Stadium in Tokyo Tuesday, putting them in position capture a third U-20 World Cup title. Brian's 22nd-minute header off a cross from Mollie Pathman proved to be the game-winner, while Ohai chipped the Nigerian goalkeeper off a feed from Samantha Mewis in the 70th minute to ice the result.

Standing in U.S. U-20s' way from another title is Germany, the only team to defeat the U.S. during the tournament, doing so in emphatic fashion with a 3-0 result in group play. Germany topped host Japan by a matching 3-0 scorline in Tuesday's other semifinal to set up the rematch. The U.S. U-20 women have never lost in a World Cup final, getting there and winning in both 2002 and 2008.

The U.S.-Germany final is set for 6:20 a.m. Saturday and can be seen live on ESPNU and ESPN3.com.

What do you think of this development? Can you see the U.S. U-20 women topping Germany to win the World Cup?

Share your thoughts below. 

Comments

  1. Nice to see some strong up-and-coming players in the US side; I’ve been particularly impressed by right defender Crystal Dunne’s play. While she plays forward in college, she’s played defender in this tourney–and played the position very well. Her attacking instincts hold her in good stead when she pushes forward; she has had several very nice overlapping runs, and each time she has been a threat with either a solid pass or shot on goal. I see her contending for a position with the WNT in short order.

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  2. That’s terrible! This wasn’t even a late match! It was on at 2ish and not 4:30 (I woke up in the middle of the night and was pleasantly surprised to find live soccer in HD. Thank YOU ESPN!!

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  3. It will be interesting to see if the US can make tactical moves to counter the success Germany had against them in opening round. U-20s are not often noted for their tactical acumen; a good game plan set forth by the coaches can lessen the impact of the players’ inability to sort things out on their own and dramatically change the course of a game. Given their success, it seems unlikely Germany will take a different approach so the US coaches should have a pretty good idea of what to expect and how they might counter that.

    Of course, if the germans are just that much better individually, win the majority of 50-50 balls and dominate attacking possession, a good tactical game plan is more likely to merely limit the damage rather than reverse the result

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  4. Deutschland!

    I hope Germany wins but let’s keep in mind that this is U-20 women’s soccer. I probably have never heard of any of the players and I definitely won’t be heartbroken if they lose.

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  5. Argh, I missed another match. Gonna stay up all nite to watch the final if I have too- need to see some redemption against ze’ germans…

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