Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sport
Kristen Wong

Alyssa Naeher Keeps USWNT’s Golden Dreams Alive With Amazing Kick Save vs. Germany

Alyssa Naeher USWNT Germany Gold United States Naomi Girma Paris
Alyssa Naeher #1 of the United States celebrates after defeating Germany during the Women's semifinal match during the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade de Lyon on August 06, 2024 in Lyon, France. | Photo by Andrea Vilchez/ISI/Getty Images

There’s a new U.S. Secretary of Defense in Paris.

The U.S. women’s national team’s goalkeeper, Alyssa Naeher, came up big with a clutch save in the waning minutes of extra time in Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Germany in the Olympic Games semifinal match.

After a 90-minute stalemate, USWNT striker Sophia Smith pounced on a tantalizing through-ball from teammate Mallory Swanson and broke open the scoring at Stade de Lyon with a swift one-time shot into the net. Germany’s keeper, Ann-Katrin Berger, was caught in no-man’s land and had made the unwise decision to prematurely run out to the edge of the box to try and stifle the attack.

But Smith didn’t provide the only highlight of extra time.

In the second half of the extra period, Germany whipped in a dangerous free kick, and forward Laura Freigang diverted the ball downward with a dangerous header. Other keepers may have been caught off guard, but Naeher’s reaction time was just too good. 

Naeher leapt into the air, making herself as big as she could, and simultaneously stuck out her left leg to make an incredible mid-air kick save. Naeher’s clutch stop helped keep a clean sheet and preserve the 1-0 lead, sending the U.S. women into their first Olympic gold medal match since 2012.

After the final whistle blew, USWNT players immediately ran into Naeher’s arms to celebrate the victory.

Fans hailed Naeher for her late-game heroics, while also giving defender Naomi Girma her flowers for her hardened defense all game long.

The USWNT will play either Brazil or Spain in the gold medal match of the Paris Games on Saturday.


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Alyssa Naeher Keeps USWNT’s Golden Dreams Alive With Amazing Kick Save vs. Germany.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Corey Taylor on the reactions to Dave Grohl's recent baby announcement: "If that’s the one thing that defines him, then what are we doing?"
Dave Grohl has made headlines for fathering a baby outside of marriage, and Corey Taylor has some thoughts on the whole thing
Metal Hammer
Metal Hammer
Supermassive black hole jets mysteriously ignite nova explosions, Hubble Telescope finds
Hubble Space Telescope observations suggest supermassive black hole jets double the frequency of nova explosions. But how?
Space
Space
Viral Photo Claims to Show College Student Chilling Out in Flooded Dorm After Hurricane Helene
The photo claiming to picture an Appalachian State University student has received more than 79,000 upvotes and thousands of comments.
Latin Times
Latin Times
“I would show him the lick. He's like, ‘Why don't you just play it? You sound just like me, anyway!’” Dweezil Zappa says he recorded Eddie Van Halen playing a “greatest hits guitar solo” at 5150 for an unreleased project – and had to give EVH pointers
The session was the result of an unreleased ‘audio movie’ concept of Zappa’s in which he envisioned solo contributions from Brian May and Angus Young
Guitar World
Guitar World
“I didn’t tell anybody when I started playing the guitar. Then I entered a talent contest and I played The Star-Spangled Banner with my teeth – and I won”: Why Steve Vai kept his guitar playing a secret when he first started
Vai didn't tell anyone when he began learning the guitar, but eventually announced his new-found fretboard abilities in quite spectacular style
Guitar World
Guitar World
Netflix fails to get Baby Reindeer lawsuit thrown out
Fiona Harvey is suing streaming giant over the portrayal of a stalker character in hit show
Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.
Download on the AppStore Get it on Google Play