Karina LeBlanc's Three Things ahead of Canada's Olympic soccer semifinal

RIO DE JANEIRO - Yahoo Sports Canada Olympics expert Karina LeBlanc knows something about the Summer Games soccer tournament semifinals.

Four years ago in London she won a bronze medal after a road that wound through a memorable - and controversial - semifinal against the United States. I asked Karina for her thoughts about this one, as unbeaten Canada faces Germany in Belo Horizonte, with the winner headed to the Maracana in Rio and the loser off to Sao Paulo for the bronze-medal game.

So here we go: call it Karina’s Three Things, and enjoy the game (3 p.m. ET on Tuesday):

FORGET HISTORY

"This is not going to be like any Canada-Germany game before, and rankings and previous history mean nothing. This is a game being played for a chance to play for a gold medal, so the past is the past. That means it’s not going to be the prettiest soccer game. It’ll be more like a battle."

ALL HANDS ON DECK

"Canada beat Germany 2-1 in their final group game to secure top spot in their group. But there were three key players missing. Centre back Kadeisha Buchanan sat out due to two yellow cards in the first two games. And John Herdman rested his two main attackers, Christine Sinclair and Janine Beckie. All three watched and took notes. All three are back."

DEFENCE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS

"Ever since their very first game in Brazil, against Australia, Canada has reacted well to adversity and shown a strong defensive game. Even down red-carded Shelina Zadorsky for most of that one, they held out a good Australia team, which immediately helped build a belief that’s sustained them since. They went into the tournament believing they were the best defensive team in the tournament and they’ve played like it, with ‘keeper Stephanie Labbe recording two clean sheets and not giving up a goal in open play. They have serious defensive momentum, in other words, and that can take you a long, long way.”