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Norway advances to women's finals
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- A misfortunate own goal by defender Tina Wunderlich sank Germany and allowed Norway to move into the Olympic women's soccer final with a 1-0 victory Sunday. In the final, the Norwegians will meet defending champion United States, which beat Brazil 1-0 in Canberra. Wunderlich headed into her own net in the 80th minute to decide a close game that could have gone either way but probably should have been Germany's. "Pity, we were so close, we played like a top-class team, and we dominated for a long time, and we created great chances that we should have scored from," German coach Tina Theune-Meyer said. "We were unlucky not to win." Norway's coach Per-Mathias Hagmo did not argue. "They were better in the first half and had some big chances," he said. "We struggled a lot but we changed things in the second half, put them under pressure earlier and started to win more balls. "They are a strong, skillful team." Before a sparse crowd at Sydney's Football Ground on a windy early evening, the Germans had most of the possession in the first half and the better chances. Norway, bronze medalist in Atlanta, was without key defender Gro Espeseth, while the Germans missed midfielder Renate Lingor. Both were suspended. A free kick in the 23rd minute, awarded after Solveig Gulbrandsen had brought down Birgit Prinz, nearly gave Germany the lead. But Norwegian goalkeeper Bente Nordby stopped the low shot by midfielder Sandra Minnert that had sailed around the Norwegian wall. In a scrappy, physical match with little flow and a crowded midfield, there was almost no action in the penalty areas - a disappointing display by two teams among the best in the world. Solveig Gulbrandsen twice shot from outside the German box, but both times was off target. Norway, which had trounced Germany 4-1 at a pre-Olympic tournament in Germany, stepped up the pace after the break and created several corners. Some penetrating runs on the flanks on the other side troubled the Norwegian defense but Germany too was unable to mount a significant threat until the 65th minute. In the best move in the game, Bettina Wiegmann slipped a clever pass on the right wing behind the Norwegian defense. Minnert raced to the line to send back a good cross into the middle of the Norwegian box, but Grings' attempt to first-time her shot failed and ended harmlessly. Both teams started attacking in waves with an energy not seen for the first hour, and German defender Steffi Jones made a desperate last-moment clearance to deny Ragnhild Gulbrandsen. But with 10 minutes to go, disaster struck for Germany after a horrible misunderstanding in its defense. Wunderlich failed to notice Silke Rottenberg coming off her line to catch a harmless cross and headed the ball over her goalkeeper into the net in a clumsy attempt to clear. Germany did find the net three minutes later but was called for offside and threw everything into attack in the final minutes but could not find a way past the big Norwegian defense. The outcome left the German players in tears, while Norway celebrated, knowing that it was lucky to win. Sinking to her knees, Wunderlich held her head in her arms for several minutes and only left the field after coach Theune-Meyer came to console her. "You can't really put the blame on one person. You win or lose as a team," the coach said. "She had a good game and she made one mistake. She's down, but her teammates will help her get out of it." Germany was the only team to reach the semifinals with a perfect 3-0 record. Norway rebounded after a 2-0 opening loss to the United States and qualified by knocking out China, the Atlanta silver medalist, 2-1. The Germans will now play Brazil for the bronze medal. Lineups Germany: Silke Rottenberg; Kerstin Stegeman, Steffi Jones, Doris Fitschen, Sandra Minnert, Tina Wunderlich, Bettina Wiegmann, Ariane Hingst, Maren Meinert, Birgit Prinz, Inka Grings. Norway: Bente Nordby; Brit Sandaune, Goeril Kringen, Silje Joergensen, Kristin Bekkevold, Hege Riise, Solveig Gulbrandsen, Christine Boe Jensen (Monica Knudsen, 33rd minute), Marianne Pettersen (Unni Lehn, 86th), Dagny Mellgren (Margunn Haugenes, 55th), Regnhild Gulbrandsen. Referee: Im Eun-ju, South Korea.
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