Women's World Cup 2015: USA vs Germany Preview: Favourites go head-to-head

  

The first semi-final of the 2015 Women's World Cup see's the two favourites USA and Germany go head-to-head for a place in the final.

United States goalkeeper Hope Solo revealed that she thinksGermany could be tired ahead of Tuesday night's Women's World Cup semi-final after going all the way to penalties against France.

Germany, ranked the best women's side in the world, needed a late penalty to equalise on Friday night to force extra-time againstFrance, with the Germans now facing second-ranked USA for a place in the final of the Women's World Cup, where they will face eitherEngland or Japan in Vancouver.

Solo warned her teammates that Germany are going to "hit us with a wake up call that they needed," or "they're going to be tired," before stating that USA are "peaking at the right time."

America and Germany are the two most successful teams in Women's World Cup history, with two competition wins each.

Only four countries have ever won the World Cup. USA won two of the first three, but have not been world champions since 1999. The Germans have won two of the last three, although Japan are the current champions, after beating the US on penalties in Germany four years ago.

While the Germans struggled past France, the world's third-ranked team, in the last eight, America beat China 1-0 to continue their record of reaching the semi-finals at all seven World Cups.

Favourite's battle it out for a place in the final

Solo believes that Germany are a great team, and that they had a"tough match" against France, stating that Germany are going to "look back on the footage and know they need to step up."

Germany are "tactically great," but Solo insisted that USA are right"where we need to be," hoping to see her side "head into the final."

Germany defender Annike Krahn knows their opponents will enjoy the majority of the support in Montreal, saying that the crowd will"definitely be against us," and that they'll "cheer on USA loudly,"before insisting "that motivates us even more."

Ahead of the tie, Krahn commented on USA's playing style, saying: "it's completely different to that of the French," before stating her side have to be "present from the first minute."

USA are a "strong opponent," says Krahn, however, "we've had some really tough games." The 29-year old believes Germany "can compete against strong sides," and that it's "definitely a positive thing."

United States' Amy Rodriguez has praised the crowd, saying her side"absolutely love the support," before hoping USA can "give them more to cheer about," with a win over Germany.

Both sides are terrific in defence which is shown by the fact the these are the two sides who have conceded the least amount of goals in this World Cup campaign - USA have conceded one and Germany two.

Therefore it makes for an intriguing match between the World's top two sides.

Match facts

USA and Germany have met previously in three previous Women's World Cup games. The winner of those, has since gone on to lift the trophy (USA in 1991 and 1999, Germany in 2003).

The United States have won 19 times in 30 meetings, in comparison to Germany's four. 

The Germans have kept a clean sheet in three of their four semi-final victories, whilst the USA have won three from their six Women's World Cup semi-finals.

USA seem to turn their game up in the second half, with five of their seven goals in this year's competition, coming after the break.

Germany's Celia Sasic is close to beating most goals in the tournament. With six already, the 27-year old needs just one more to match USA's Michelle Akers (10 in 1991).

Germany are also the highest scorers in this year's competition with 20.