Team USA will play France on August 6 in Group G in what is expected to be a clash of titans.
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“Of course we had some enormous losses, some players that have been around the game for quite some time, and they are irreplaceable, really”, veteran goalkeeper Hope Solo said. She has the sixth most goals in US women’s soccer history. Nobody knows what to expect, with our younger players, with our new talent, with our formation. “She’s having fun. She’s enjoying it. So I think for her, I think probably if you were to ask her I think the hardest part of this was probably January, where she came in, didn’t know people, socially it was very different in terms of other players in there”.
Seeking a fourth straight Olympic gold, the Americans are also without Christine Rampone because of injury, while Sydney Leroux and Amy Rodriguez are pregnant. “(The Olympics) is an opportunity to change that”, Marta said. The five-time Federation Internationale de Football Association women’s world player of the year destroyed Chinese defence. Eight of Germany’s 18 players are 25 or under, so their favorable odds may have more to do with reputation than the realities of the current roster.
The first match of the Games saw Sweden beat South Africa 1-0 in front of an nearly empty 60,000-seater Olympic stadium in Rio. She met them – and then won the same award for five consecutive years, showing that the pressure was nothing to her. In 2015 she became the top goalscorer in Women’s World Cup history, scoring her 15th against South Korea; perhaps breaking that particular record was no surprise when she averages a goal a game at worldwide level. A captain, alongside Becky Sauerbrunn, she has received endorsements with Visa, United Airlines, Heineken and more since the World Cup. (Holiday, the fifth starter, retired.) Any other team would be reeling, but Lindsey Horan and Allie Long have stepped in and made big contributions in central midfield. “Of course, there are going to be tough contenders, but honestly, not a single team intimidates me”.
Brazil has barely got over its World Cup disaster and now it is counting on Barcelona star Neymar to finally deliver a treasured first football Olympic gold medal. After giving birth to son Reggie, Ennis-Hill won the world title in Beijing and has battled back from an Achilles injury to head to Brazil as one of the favourites for gold. Frankly, the Swedes looked slow while going winless at last summer’s World Cup, though they seem to be trying to address that by bringing in some younger players. The two-time Olympian has scored the gold medal-winning goals in both the 2008 and 2012 Olympic finals.
“I believe that because we’ve been playing together a lot, we’ve also achieved a lot together”.
France vs. Colombia, 9 p.m.
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“We feel like we didn’t lose”. We don’t come into any tournament with an extreme amount of confidence or arrogance. After winning gold at the 2009 World Championships, Semenya was forced to undergo medical tests and barred from the track for almost a year, before returning to win silver at the 2011 worlds and 2012 London Olympics.
