A Sweden player celebrate with a member of her team after penalty shootout during a semi-final match of the women’s Olympic football tournament between Brazil and Sweden at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday Aug. 16, 2016.
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Whatever happens when the sides will meet in the gold medal match on Saturday at 22:30 CET, there will be a new Olympic men’s football victor, with neither a united Germany nor Brazil having won Olympic gold before.
Neymar scored twice, including the fastest goal in Olympics history, as Brazil coasted into Saturday’s gold medal match with a 6-0 thrashing of Honduras at Rio’s iconic Maracana.
Marta crumbled to her knees on the field at Brazil’s famed Maracana Stadium, her eyes filled with tears. They only talk about women’s football when the World Cup and Olympics come around.
“We have to pick up the pieces to try to win this medal”.
There was a glimmer of some good news, though, as Americans Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross have were beaten by Brazil in the beach volleyball semifinals.
Back when the first women’s Olympic soccer tournament was held in 1996 at the Atlanta Games, they were players: Silvia Neid played for Germany and Pia Sundhage for Sweden.
The last time Sweden beat Germany in a major tournament, Pia Sundhage scored the tying goal in the 80th minute of a game in the 1995 World Cup.
“For the time being, we have only the silver achieved”, Micale said.
“This is wonderful. It is the first time for Germany to reach the final and I am very proud about our performance”, Germany coach Silvia Neid said. Despite their famed skills and guile the Brazilians could not break the opposition down near enough to goal to create real match-winning chances.
Don’t expect any trash talk from either player like what came from the USA goalie Hope Solo, who called the Swedes cowards.
The results:Sweden 0 draw with Brazil 0, win 4-3 on penalties. Neymar was outstanding in the 2-0 win over Colombia despite being heavily marked. Eliminated by the United States in a World Cup semifinal a year ago, it lost again to the Americans in a quasi-competitive game this spring.
“‘They praised our team and said they were sorry for taking Brazil out of the final”.
In all the discussion now surrounding the playing style of the Sweden there has been little commentary on why they are now playing in this manner. Her last match as a player was at the Atlanta Games, against Brazil.
It was what made Italian football in the 1960s and later in the 90s one of the most tactically intriguing leagues in the world.
Sweden’s best finish was in Athens when the team fell to Germany in the bronze medal match. The medal is the first for Germany in Olympic women’s beach volleyball.
Sweden, whose previous best showing at an Olympics was a fourth-place finish in 2004, will now face the victor of last night’s second semi-final between Germany and Canada.
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Brazilian men’s team Alison and Bruno advanced to the gold medal game.
