Incredible penalty save delivers Germany its bronze medal in women's football thriller

Germany has defeated Spain 1-0 in the women's football bronze medal match to claim the final place on the podium.

It was a tale of two goalkeepers that defined the second half, and the match, after the teams had gone into half-time scoreless.

Spain's custodian Cata Coll had gifted Germany their opener just after the hour mark, charging off her line and clattering into Giulia Gwinn, who had got her head to the ball before the keeper's arrival.

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Gwinn duly picked herself up and slotted the resulting spot kick with aplomb, sending Coll left and scything the ball right.

It should have been 2-0 minutes later when Lea Schuller was through on goal with time and space aplenty, but she was denied by a sharp save from Coll.

At the other end of the pitch, Ann-Katrin Berger played the role of hero for Germany with a host of saves, and two stunners in particular.

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The first came off a free header from Jenni Hermoso, when a firm right hand denied the Spanish forward from near-point-blank range with about 15 minutes left to play, but it was the second that will live long in German footballing folklore.

With just seconds of seven minutes of additional time left, Lucia Garcia was ruled to have been taken down in the box by Janina Minge.

While the contact appeared minimal, VAR didn't intervene for Germany, but Berger did, diving left to deny Alexia Putellas a last-gasp equaliser.

In Coll's defence, Spain had more than enough chances to take the game into extra-time, but a combination of staunch defending, brilliant goalkeeping and wasteful finishing was enough to deliver Germany the bronze medal.