RIO DE JANEIRO

Goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl wouldn’t mind a third straight penalty shootout for Sweden in the women’s Olympic soccer final on Friday.

After all, it’s when she gets to have some fun.

“If that’s what it takes, I don’ t mind,” Lindahl said Tuesday after leading Sweden to a 4- 3 shootout win over host Brazil in the semifinals of the Olympic tournament. “It’s fun as a goalkeeper, you have nothing to lose. It’s great.”

After making a penalty save that helped Sweden get past the U.S. women’s team in the quarterfinals, Lindahl made two stops against Brazil at the Maracana Stadium to secure her team’s spot in the Olympic final for the first time.

Sweden will face Germany

on Friday, again at the Maracana.

“She is just very important for us,” Sweden coach Pia Sundhage said of Lindahl. “ There’s some sort of calmness, and the way she reads the game, not only saving shots. She is so important. The fact that we advanced after a shootout against the U.S. team and now against Brazil is huge for us.”

Lindahl had stopped Alex Morgan’s opening penalty in the shootout against the Americans in Brasilia on Friday, when Sweden won 5-4 to upset the five-time gold medalists. She did even better at the famed Maracana on Tuesday, deflecting Cristiane’s shot with her right arm and using both of her hands to push away Andressa’s strike late in the shootout.