And then there were four. The women's Olympic football tournament has quickly gone from 12 teams down to four, and all but one of those sides are guaranteed a medal. On the face of it, Germany should start as favourites for a possible gold. However, Silvia Neid's team has lacked a killer edge in front of goal. Without that, their opponents will smell blood.Despite earning a place in the semi-finals, the FIFA World Cup semi-finalists from last year have not been great throughout the Olympics.Kicking off with a 6-1 win over Zimbabwe glossed over any potential problems. They were the weakest team in Group F, but it did take the Germans 22 minutes to break down the disorganised Africans.The last three goals came near the end of the game, with the Mighty Warriors feeling the effects of a tough opening fixture.The cracks began to show against Australia in the second match. 2-0 down after goals from Samantha Kerr and Caitlin Foord, a late first-half strike from Sara Dabritz was the perfect tonic, and Germany came back into the game, earning a point through Saskia Bartusiak scoring with only a few minutes remaining.That should have been the spark, the moment that saw the Germans pick up their performances and begin to show why they are regarded as one of the top teams in the world.It didn't happen though. They dominated against Canada early in the last group game, taking the lead through a Melanie Behringer penalty, but they couldn't break Canada's spirit. Melissa Tancredi scoring twice to beat the Germans for the very first time in their history.Mandy Islacker made her first start of the tournament against the Canadians, but the Frankfurt forward was far from convinced by both her own and her team's display against the North Americans."I can definitely do more. I'm always very self-critical, and I can definitely do better," she told FIFA.com after the group stage. "I don't think we had enough movement ahead of the ball. We're in the quarter-finals and those games are irrelevant now. We're in the knockout phase, and now it's all about reaching the semis."The 28-year-old was right, the only thing that mattered was getting out of the group, and amazingly, finishing second behind Canada actually gave the Germans a better match-up in the quarter-finals. Neid's side would avoid the unpredictable French and take on China for a place in the last four.The Asian side, after qualifying with just one win, were on the back foot for the majority of the game in Salvador, Brazil. Germany had 23 shots, nine on target, via the Rio 2016 website. Bruno Bini's team only managed two shots through the entire game and only controlled 32 percent of possession.However, it was a game that Germany found frustrating. It took a 76th-minute Behringer thunderbolther fourth of the tournamentto take the lead.China went down to 10 players after striker Wang Shanshan managed to pick up two yellow cards in just eight minutes in the second half. The game should have been wrapped up once Germany took the lead, but with seven minutes to go, the Chinese were handed a lifeline.Wang Shuang was brought down in the box by Leonie Maier. The 21-year-old dusted herself off, lined up for the penalty, but turned it against the right-hand post. Germany held on for the 1-0 win.My heart practically stopped, said German forward Anja Mittag, via FIFA.com, who won a bronze medal in 2008. "Even though I knew what Almuth [Schult] can do and believed in her. We were lucky at that moment. I think luck was on our side tonight, and somehow things worked out for us."In a bizarre way, the Rio tournament ladder was organised. The victory sets up a semi-final challenge against Canada. A chance for revenge, but more importantly, just one game away from completing their goal."You could certainly see it that way," admitted Mittag when asked about avenging the group-stage loss. "But it doesnt matter to us. All we want now is to beat every opponent and take home gold."Canada have been the unexpected story of the tournament so far, winning all three group games, beating Germany for the first time in 13 attempts and then holding strong to beat the much-fancied French team.Despite being so close, Germany are still a long way from looking like a team that can win gold this summer. They are still able to control play, but finishing and creating clear chances has been a huge problem.What has been evident since the end of the 2015 World Cup is that Neid's team has a huge Celia Sasic-shaped hole in the attack. Behringer, a 30-year-old midfielder who plays for Bayern Munich, is the top goalscorer so far with four goals.Dabritz is next with just two goals to her name. In 2015, Sasic matched Carli Lloyd as the World Cup's top scorer with six, her presence helped Mittag bag five. Germany were a much stronger force in the final third.With so few really challenging sides in the women's game, it's hard to judge how good teams are until the big tournaments. Since the World Cup, Germany are unbeaten in UEFA Euro 2017 qualifying, winning six games out of six and scoring 30 goalsincluding a 12-0 win over Hungary.Alexandra Popp is the top scorer there with five. She has only scored once at the Olympics and has failed to impress on the biggest international stages over the last 18 months, despite amazing club success with Wolfsburg.During World Cup qualification, Germany won all 10 games, scoring 62 goals and conceding just four. Sasic scored nine goals and Mittag was the top scorer with 11. It's clear that the partnership and understanding they had together worked fantastically.Just two weeks after the World Cup, in which Germany finished fourth, Sasic shocked the football world by announcing her retirement at just 28 years old.When I announced my decision, my mind was already made up, Sasic told FIFA.com. "It wasnt a case of me talking about it and then inviting other people into the decision-making process. It was a decision I made for myself, but obviously I discussed it with the people closest to me."Her decision has left an irreplaceable gap in the Germany attack. They haven't just failed to find an alternative, but it has affected the players that benefited from her presence.Popp, Mittag and Dzsenifer Maroszan, have all looked off the pace at this tournament. If Germany are to show that killer instinct that they were often known for, they need to find a way to play to their strengths without someone like Sasic.They certainly have the talent, it's just not clear if they have the tactics or the clinical edge to go all the way to gold.
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