Her flair and attacking ruthlessness will allow those around her to flourish and if Australia decides to place too many markers on Marta, others like Cristiane, Deabritz or Andressa Alves will capitalize on the space afforded to them. Substitute Chloe Logarzo came close to scoring the victor for Australia with minutes remaining when her long-range shot hit the crossbar, while Williams was called into action to make a stunning save from a close-range Andressa Alves effort.
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Chances began opening up all over the shop in the second half as well as the heat and emotion among the players, with some pretty aggressive hits coming out and the cards being presented. Australia is eliminated from Olympic competition.
With 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup stars Lisa De Vanna and Kyah Simon back in the starting eleven, Australia issued an impressive response against the Germans – Samantha Kerr and Caitlin Foord giving Australia a 2-0 first half lead. No one was particularly to blame for the injury – in that situation and with where all three women started, everyone going for the ball was understandable and fair – but it still left Williams writhing in pain for several minutes, and definitely not looking quite at 100% even after telling the referee she could stay on.
Fortunately for China, Sweden had been dealt a 5-1 thrashing by Brazil in their second group match, and fortunately for Sweden, New Zealand had lost 3-0 to France prior to the final matches in Group E, meaning a draw would see both teams through to the quarter-finals.
“But at the end of the day all these matches are just the history”.
As previously mentioned, Marta is crucial for Brazil. If they can keep the Australians in front of them, they can position themselves correctly to stop them and not have to chase the Australian forwards back to their own goal.
The teams went into the first extra time session scoreless and played 30 minutes without a goal.
Neither side would find a way to overcome that fatigue, so the match had to be decided by penalties. The best team did not win today.
THEY don’t have many 10pm kick-offs in the W-League.
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The Matildas will play host nation Brazil in the quarter-finals of the women’s football at the Rio Olympics on Saturday morning. They took Brazil to the limit, and came literally inches short of victory. However it was Brazil goalkeeper Barbara who would have the final say on the night.
