The United States women's national team delivered its best overall performance to date at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in its 2-0 semifinal win over Germany on Tuesday.
The key reason for the dominant win over the No. 1 team in the FIFA world rankings was a formation shift from a 4-4-2 to a 4-2-3-1. Morgan Brian, who thrived in the quarterfinal win over China, stayed in her holding midfield role, while Lauren Holiday started next to Brian with Carli Lloyd in an advanced role behind forward Alex Morgan.
After holding off an early spell of consistent pressure brought forth by the Germans during the first 10 minutes of the match, the three central midfielders helped dictate the pace of the game.