'Not leaving with anything less than gold,' Sophia Smith’s extra-time goal sends USWNT into Olympic final

Paris, France - The Olympics have always been a proving ground to see who can handle the pressure and who can't. Sophia Smith proved she can.

"I just saw a little slither of open net and I knew I just had to get the ball there, somehow," Smith said. "But honestly, I feel like I kinda blacked out at the same time."

With the hopes and dreams of the entire country on her shoulders, Smith delivered the biggest goal of her career. During Tuesday's semifinal round, Smith's game winner, in extra time, clinched a 1-0 victory over Germany and propelled the U.S. women's national team into the gold medal match of the Paris Olympics.

Waiting on the United States in the tournament final on Saturday is a Brazil team, which defeated Spain 4-2 during the semifinals. On Friday, Germany and Spain will compete for the bronze medal.  

Saturday will be the U.S. women's first appearance in a gold medal game since the 2012 summer games in London. It's also Smith's 24th birthday. She hopes to celebrate the occasion by helping the U.S. retrieve the gold for the fifth time in USWNT history.  

"We come here obviously with the goal in mind of playing for a gold medal," Smith said. "It's so much work to get there and we've put in so much work every single game, it just feels like it's all been worth it and we're finally, exactly where we want to be but the job's not done. We don't want to leave here with anything less than a gold medal."