Sweden progressed to their first ever Olympics semi-final 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Brasilia as Sweden coach Pia Sundhage ousted the U.S. team she led to gold in 2008 and 2012.
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Lisa Dahlkvist beat U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo to vault the Swedish side into the Olympic final four for the first time ever on Friday.
Sundhage, who coached the U.S.to gold medals in 2008 and 2012, reportedly responded, “I don’t give a crap”. I think it’s pretty obvious that Sweden took a tactic that most outmatched teams take in soccer, it’s been happening for centuries in fact.
Solo was criticizing Sweden’s style of play, which was defensive throughout the match. She was first up for the Americans only to see her shot saved by Lindahl.
After a scoreless first half, Stina Blackstenius scored in the 61st minute to give Sweden a 1-0 lead that for a time threatened to send the Americans home early from Brazil.
Solo didn’t think it was very sporting or fair for the Swedes to spend much of the game with as many as nine players in front of their own net, less interested in scoring a goal than in preventing one.
Sweden coach Pia Sundhage, who coached the USA for five years and led the team to gold medals at both the Beijing and London Olympics, quipped: “It’s OK to be a coward if you win”. “What she did was an act of panic”, said Swedish goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl, who stoned Morgan and watched a shot by Christen Press sail far over the bar during penalty kicks.
Solo, who played her 200th worldwide last week, played well in her opening two games, with wins over New Zealand and France, but had a nightmare in the 2-2 draw against Colombia and was at fault for both goals. But, you know, the best team did not win today. But after the USA couldn’t put Sweden away in regulation, had a goal called back in extra time, and botched penalty kicks, the Olympics were over.
“Sweden played a really defensive game and from what I understand the USA outshot them”.
But defeat to Sweden on penalties in the quarterfinals of Rio 2016 seemed too hard to bear for Hope Solo, the USWNT’s outspoken goalkeeper.
The United States Women’s National Team crashed out of the quarterfinals at the Rio Olympics, losing in a penalty shootout to Sweden Friday after a 1-1 draw. This was a win-or-go-home game in a major tournament. However, both teams had only recorded one shot on goal. That led crowds in Brazil to chant, “Zika, Zika”, every time she touched the ball in matches. The better team did not win today. “I think we showed a lot of heart”.
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After the match, Solo praised her teammates for playing a “courageous game” but slammed the Swedes in the same breath. “You have to let them process it, but teenage girls are pretty resilient and it doesn’t take them that long to recover”. Just moments later, Lotta Schelin scored for Sweden, but the forward was wrongly called offside and the match would head to a shootout to decide the semifinalist. A few shooters later, Solo stopped a chance to even things up, but Press – the fifth US shooter – finished a nightmare tournament for her by firing well over the bar.
