Nigeria 0-2 Germany: Lukas Klostermann and Nils Petersen send world champions into gold medal clash with Brazil in Olympics final
- World champions Germany booked their place in the Olympics final
- Defender Lukas Klostermann opened the scoring after nine minutes
- Nils Petersen sealed victory with a close range finish in the dying minutes
- Germans will play Brazil in the final after the hosts beat Honduras 6-0
Lukas Klosertmann and Nils Peterson scored to send Germany into the Olympic gold-medal match for the first time with a 2-0 semi-final victory over Nigeria on Wednesday.
The Germans will play Brazil on Saturday at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. The stadium was the site of the country's World Cup victory in 2014, a few days after the German senior team embarrassed Brazil 7-1 in the semifinals.
Klostermann scored in the ninth minute, meeting a cross from captain Maximillian Meyer before beating fallen Nigerian goalkeeper Emmanuel Daniel.
Nigeria's Chelsea midfielder Jon Obi Mikel had a good chance in the 31st minute but was off the mark.
Mikel is one of the three senior players that Nigeria was able to add to the Olympic roster. The men's tournament is played among under-23 teams.
Peterson charged in and directed Davie Selkie's cross into the far corner in the 89th minute from what looked like an offside position for his sixth goal of the tournament.
Nigeria's Olympic run received attention when the team's arrival in Brazil was delayed by a flight mix-up until just hours before their opening match. But the team suffered a blow in the final group match when star striker Oghenekaro Etebo was injured.
Nigeria won gold at the 1996 Olympics with a 3-2 victory over Argentina, then won silver in 2008, falling 1-0 to Argentina in the final.
Germany is playing in the Olympics for the first time since 1998, when U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann was in the team. The world champions have the competition's best attack with 21 goals, having eliminated Euro 2016 winners Portugal 4-0 in the quarter-finals.
The German women's national team is also playing in the gold medal match against Sweden on Friday, marking the first time a nation has had both its men and women in an Olympic soccer final.
Despite their travel woes, Nigeria finished first in its group before eliminating Denmark 2-0 in the quarter-finals.
Nigeria will face Honduras in the bronze medal match on Saturday in Belo Horizonte, about 275 miles to the north of Rio.
MATCH FACTS
Nigeria: Daniel, Shehu, Troost-Ekong, Sincere, Amuzie, Usman, Udo, Mikel, Aminu Umar, Sadiq Umar, Ezekiel.
Subs: Akpeyi, Madu, Erimuya, Etebo, Ajayi, Sodiq, Okechukwu.
Booked: Udo
Germany: Horn, Ginter, Sule, Klostermann, Lars Bender, Sven Bender, Toljan, Meyer, Gnabry, Brandt, Selke.
Subs: Huth, Goretzka, Max, Bauer, Christiansen, Promel, Petersen.
Booked: Lars Bender, Gnabry, Ginter
Scorer: Klostermann 9', Peterson 89'
Referee: Nestor Pitana (Argentina)
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