SHANGHAI, Sept. 26 -- GERMANY may be an immovable object, but it will face an irresistible force when it takes on tournament top scorer Ragnhild Gulbrandsen and her Norway teammates in the women's World Cup semifinal in Tianjin today.

Germany is the first team in history to reach the women's World Cup semis without a conceding a goal, but will face its stiffest test against the Norway attack, spearheaded by Gulbrandsen, who has five goals in four matches.

The last goals that Germany did concede were in a pre-tournament friendly against Norway in the German city of Mainz, where the Scandinavians scored twice and had the better of the match.

"When we played them in Mainz, I didn't think they were that good defensively," Gulbrandsen said.

"I don't know actually what makes them strong in this tournament.

"Maybe its that they've played together so often as a defense, and they know each other well."

Gulbrandsen is equal top of the World Cup scorers' list with Marta, but while the Brazilian is a lauded star of the game, the Norwegian has had a patchier road to the top.

After playing in the 1999 World Cup, she missed the 2003 event through another in a series of injuries that appeared to have prematurely ended a blossoming career when she announced her retirement in 2005.

But at the age of 30, she accepted an invitation from the Norwegian coaching staff to make herself available for the 2007 event, and has surprised herself at her impact. "Yes, I'm a little bit surprised," she said. "I never thought in four games I would score five goals. It has been amazing, but what I really hope for is to score on Wednesday.

"We believe we can beat Germany."

Norway coach Bjarne Berntsen was buoyed by his team's performance in the Mainz match, and eager to compensate for the loss to the Germans in the European Championship final of 2005.

"We reckon Germany is a stronger side now than in 2005, they have a very experienced side and they always get better and better in tournaments - that's Germany's strength," Berntsen said.

While Gulbrandsen will pose a threat at one end, Germany star striker Birgit Prinz, the all-time highest scorer in World Cups, will be the player to watch at the other.

Prinz said she is not only expecting a tight game, but looking forward to one.

"That's the interesting part in soccer, it's not interesting when you are better than your opponent and you're just wondering how many goals you will score."