The U.S. women’s soccer team had its temperaments tested by a savvy, conservative Sweden in the Olympic quarterfinals Friday and lost in penalty kicks 4-3 after 1-1 in regulation.
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In the first-ever shoot-out in women’s Olympic football, Sweden goaltender Hedvig Lindahl stopped one penalty and a second US attempt sailed over the net.
Sweden scored against the United States in 61 minutes when Stina Blackstenius ran on to a defense-splitting pass and calmly slotted the ball past USA keeper Hope Solo.
The US equalised in the 77th minute, Alex Morgan taking advantage of a loose ball in Sweden’s area that ricocheted off the face of defender Jessica Samuelsson to score past Swedish goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl.
The United States, the reigning World Cup holders, suffered a rare loss in their match with a dogged Sweden outfit, as the Americans were defeated on penalties. During that span, it also won the Women’s World Cup in 1999 and 2015. A goal for Dahlkvist would mean a win for Sweden, and her team advancing to the Olympic semifinals.
Sweden had won only five matches against the United States. With the next kick, Lisa Dahlkvist beat an outstretched Solo for the win.
We’ll be live-blogging the game, which is being played at the Mané Garrincha Stadium in Brasilia. After connecting with a cross from Morgan, her volley went right into the path of Lindahl who knocked the ball away. It was Morgan’s team-leading 13th goal of the year.
Sweden will play the victor of tonight’s Brazil v. Australia match.
In the 115th minute, Lloyd headed the ball into the back of the net, but the goal was called back.
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Following the goal, the US brought on both Crystal Dunn and Megan Rapinoe as the team shifted to a more attacking formation as it looked for the equalizer. Told of Solo’s remarks, Sundhage said, “I don’t give a crap”. Lloyd and Sweden’s Schelin both had goals disallowed during the extra period, to set up the nail-biting finish from the penalty spot. The last time the two teams met in the Olympics was at the 1996 Atlanta Games. She punched out a blast by Brian in the first few minutes and then got a hand on a shot from Carli Lloyd halfway through the opening half. Becky Sauerbrunn and Julie Johnston extinguished potential threats in the run of play, but the US defense looked uneasy at times on set pieces. Sweden then capitalised to make it 2-1 as Solo moved early. It is the first time at the Olympics that teams are allowed a fourth substitution in games that go to extra time. The local fans are still upset about her posts on social media about the Zika virus.
