Germany's World Cup downfall was stunning penalty miss vs. USA

MONTREAL -- Whether it was genius or gamesmanship or a little of both, Hope Solo changed the Women's World Cup semifinal on Tuesday by simply doing nothing at all. Except wait.

Solo didn't touch the ball during the pivotal play of the United States' 2-0 victory against Germany at Olympic Stadium, but she touched the mind of German forward Celia Sasic, stalling for time by pacing along the touchline and giving her rival the chance to psych herself out.

"Hope did take quite a bit of time to get their penalty kick shooter, who is very good at (shooting) both ways," U.S. forward Abby Wambach said. "That was a big reason why Hope wanted to take as much time as possible, to get her to think more about it. It is very difficult to make a penalty kick if the keeper stalls."

Sasic, an outstanding player for a nation that has an extraordinarily successful record at penalty kicks, dragged the ball wide, and so turned a dramatic, tumultuous, nerve-wracking and wildly entertaining showdown between the two best teams in the world.

"You do what you can," Solo told Fox. "I did the stall tactic. It worked."

World Cup legacies are forged on years of work boiled down into tiny fragments of time and effort, minuscule windows where success or failure is etched by steeliness of mind and a single swing of a foot.

That the U.S. survived such a gauntlet of truth was exhilarating enough in itself, but what turned this story into one that flirted with the realms of disbelief was indeed that it came against Germany, the world's most indestructible machine when it comes to deciding matches from the white spot just a handful of paces from goal.

Six minutes of the second half separated Sasic's miss and Carli Lloyd's fearless conversion at the other end of the field, six minutes that turned the destiny of this match and possibly the tournament on its head.

Here's the thing: Germany doesn't miss penalty kicks. That's not an urban legend, but essentially one of international soccer's unwritten rules. Its men's team has never lost a penalty-kicks shootout in a World Cup. Neither has its women, using that format and five perfect strikes – plus one Nadine Angerer save – to get past France in the quarterfinals.

This time it was different. Maybe Sasic was psyched out by Solo. Maybe the fiercely pro-American crowd got inside the head of the veteran German forward. Maybe it was just time.

"It was a big chance and I am very sorry for the team," Sasic said. "It was a great chance. (Solo's antics) shouldn't influence me. My job is to score the goal."

Either way, such an unexpected slice of fortune was all that a deeply motivated and all-action U.S lineup needed. While some had doubted that there was enough talent on the U.S. roster to outplay Germany, coach Jill Ellis rolled the dice, pieced together as offensive a formation as she could muster and turned her players loose.

A series of chances, two of them by Alex Morgan, went begging in the first half, and another in the second. Yet it was Morgan, playing most of the game alone up front, who won the opportunity that Lloyd pounced upon.

Morgan made a long, darting run and was pulled down just outside the penalty area by defender Annike Krahn. In years past, such an infraction likely would have led to a free kick just outside the penalty area. But there is a recent interpretation of FIFA's penalty-awarding regulations that states a penalty can be given if a foul starts outside the box but continues into it. That happened with Morgan, and the U.S. celebrated with glee.

However, there was still Angerer, along with Solo one of the two best goalkeepers in the world and an experienced campaigner at the highest level, to beat. Lloyd missed a critical penalty in the 2011 final shootout against Japan, and the weight of the occasion was etched on her face as she drilled her eyes into the ball, waiting for the referee's whistle, refusing to meet Angerer's gaze. When the time came, she fired clean and true, sending the keeper the wrong way.

At that moment, the Germans, the never-say-die unit that won the World Cup in 2003 and 2007 and is still ranked No.1, was teetering on the edge and the U.S. sniffed blood. With six minutes left, substitute Kelley O'Hara added a second and put the game to bed.

And so the U.S. marches on, bound for Vancouver and Sunday's final with a feeling that fate has kissed it once more, much like after its dramatic quarterfinal triumph over Brazil four years ago.

That one ended in tears with a shock defeat to Japan in the title game and ever since the squad has sought redemption. The chase might end Sunday, a result of belief and desire, and, more than anything, thanks to the tale of two penalties, now forever a part of American soccer's modern fable.

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