Goals from Lukas Klostermann and Nils Petersen were enough for Germany to set-up an Olympic gold medal match against hosts Brazil at the Maracana as they overcame Nigeria 2-0 in the semi-final of the Rio 2016 men s football tournament.
In a tense affair at Sao Paulo s Arena Corinthians on Wednesday, it was Horst Hrubesch s side who took the lead early on in proceedings, Max Meyer picking out full-back Klostermann, who duly rolled home his finish from six yards out.
Germany survived a scare moments later, however, as a calamitous error from goalkeeper Timo Horn allowed Aminu Umar a clear sight on goal, but the Osmanlispor forward could only drill a tame effort straight at the backpedalling German shot-stopper.
Matters perhaps should have been made worse for Nigeria soon after, but fortunately for Ndifreke Udo, he escaped with just a caution after diving in recklessly on Arsenal winger Serge Gnabry.
Davie Selke squandered a gilt-edged chance to extend Germany s lead as the half wore on before, on the stroke of the interval, Borussia Dortmund defender Matthias Ginter did brilliantly to prevent Umar from netting with a last-ditch sliding challenge.
Somewhat surprisingly, it was Nigeria who came out the strongest following the restart, though despite creating plenty of half-chances, Mikel John-Obi going close with a header, Samson Siasia s side could not engineer a way through Germany s stubborn, albeit tiring, defence.
And victory was finally sealed for the Germans when, in the closing moments, Selke s cross-cum-shot was squeezed in by second-half substitute Petersen, ensuring the final will be a repeat of the infamous 2014 World Cup semi-final between Germany and Brazil s senior sides, which finished 7-1 to Joachim Low s men.
The result guarantees a medal for Germany in their first appearance at an Olympic men s football competition since 1988, while Nigeria will face Honduras who were hammered 6-0 by Brazil earlier on Wednesday in the bronze medal decider.
