The United States forced Germany out of the Olympic women's soccer final after an extra time 2-1 win at the Pankritio Stadium in Heraklio on August 23.

The hard-won victory gave the U.S. women a third straight final berth since 1996 when they beat China for the championship. The American picked up a silver in 2000.

The world top two teams traded attacks in the first 20 minutes, and it was American Christine Lilly who broke the deadlock with a left-footer kick on a cross.

The game would have ended with a 1-0 win by the United States, had it not been for the last minute equalizer from Isabell Bachlor, who left the bench in the 39th minute.

Mia Hamm proved her ability again in the extra time, when she dashed up from the left flank and gave a comfortable cross to Heather O'Rilly who was just in place to tap the ball home.

German striker Birgit Prinz had a powerful long shot 27 minutes into the extra time, but it was a little bit wide.

"Mia Hamm gave me a wonderful pass and I managed to score," said O'Reilly.

"We were fortunate to score in the extra time and get a wonderful victory," said Lilly.

"The Americans were better in the biggest part of the game and managed a fair victory. Our biggest problem was lack of creativity in the attacking line," said German midfielder Viola Odebrecht, adding "the United States, Brazil and Sweden have equal chance for the gold medal. We will try to capture the third place."