<h3 style="text-align: justify"><strong><em>England and Germany wipe away the tears as they play for pride and third place at the Women's World Cup in Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium on Saturday.</em></strong></h3> <p style="text-align: justify"></p> <p style="text-align: justify">It was not the final game either had dreamt of but after a month of gruelling football and an emotional rollercoaster ride to the semi-finals both sides are determined to finish on a high.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">A 92nd-minute own-goal from Notts County defender Laura Bassett ended England's fairytale run to their first semi-finals with a 2-1 loss to defending champions Japan.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">It brought back memories of Italia '90 when Paul Gascoigne cried his way into English hearts in their last semi-final in the men's tournament, then losing on penalties to West Germany.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">That time England finished fourth, but this time the women's team are determined to go home with a medal.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">"I think we can hold our heads high and we have to pick ourselves up to go and play against Germany," England captain Steph Houghton said.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">"There's a group of girls that give everything for the jersey and we have to take that into the game on Saturday. We want to finish third if we can."</p> <p style="text-align: justify">England midfielder Fara Williams told FIFA.com: "We need to give one more big performance against the Germans. It will need to be a class performance."</p> <p style="text-align: justify">Bassett was not alone in her tears.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">It had been a dream tournament for Germany's Celia Sasic until the hour mark into a semi-final against the United States in Montreal on Tuesday.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">The tournament's top scorer was riding high with six goals so far in the tournament, including two penalties against France in the quarter-finals.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">But she missed from the spot minutes before the United States opened with a penalty in a 2-0 win which ended Germany's bid for a record third title after 2003 and 2007.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">Sasic has since been named on the eight-woman short-list for the Golden Ball award for the tournament's top player along with England's Lucy Bronze and both will be hoping to leave a lasting impression.</p> <p style="text-align: justify"></p> <h2 style="text-align: justify">Germany unbeaten in seven games</h2> <p style="text-align: justify"></p> <p style="text-align: justify">The German camp also refused to blame Sasic's penalty miss for the defeat.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">"Celia will have gotten over it by Saturday, there are always ups and downs in sport," said coach Silvia Neid.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">"The English girls have shown during the tournament that they are a good team," said centre-back Annike Krahn.</p> . <p style="text-align: justify">"They were unlucky to lose in injury time to the defending champions, but despite the defeat they'll be confident.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">"We are taking the disappointment and blame for the defeat together," added midfielder Melanie Leupolz.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">World number one team Germany are unbeaten in seven games played against England, most recently a 3-0 win on front of record 45,619 crowd at Wembley last November.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">Neid will be overseeing her 17th World Cup match, making her the second most experienced coach in the tournament after Norway's Even Pellerud's 25 games.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">It will also be Neid's last World Cup game as she will be stepping down after the Olympics in Rio next year.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">Champions Japan play former two-time winners the United States in the final in Vancouver's BC Place Stadium on Sunday.</p> <p style="text-align: justify"><strong>By AFP</strong></p>