Lukas Klosertmann and Nils Peterson scored to send Germany into the Olympic gold-medal match for the first time with a 2-0 semifinal victory over Nigeria on Wednesday.
The Germans will play Brazil on Saturday at the 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.
Brazil defeated Honduras 6-0 earlier in the day at the Maracana to secure a final for the hosts – with Neymar scoring a pair of goals.
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 suffered an injury.
Nigeria won gold at the 1996 Olympics with a 3-2 victory over Argentina, before winning silver in 2008, falling 1-0 to Argentina in the final.
Germany is playing in the Olympics for the first time since 1998, when US coach Jurgen Klinsmann was in the team. The German Under-23 side have the competition’s best attack with 21 goals, having eliminated Portugal 4-0 in the quarterfinals.
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