International Soccer

When Canada advanced to the quarter-finals of the 2015 Women’s World Cup, it was tempting to put their success down to the benefits of hosting the tournament and the individual brilliance of Kadeisha Buchanan and Christine Sinclair.

They’ve since put those notions to bed by advancing to the bronze medal match of the 2016 Rio Games. In their defiant 2-0 defeat to Germany in the semi-finals, they exemplified the strength of football as a sport of meritocracy — where, on any given day, the footballing superpowers of the world can be defeated by the long shot.

Brazil’s Olympic footballing dream received a massive lift on Saturday. Following the women’s dramatic shootout victory over Australia on Friday, Brazil’s men followed the example of Marta and company to reach the semi-finals of their own competition.

Having struggled through group play with draws against Iraq and South Africa, Neymar and his teammates sprung to life with devastating efficiency against continental rivals Colombia.

Well, that was short-lived. Argentina manager Edgardo Bauza’s trip out to Barcelona has to be deemed a resounding success with the news that Lionel Messi has decided to reverse his decision to retire from international football.

Rather than keep his country in limbo, Messi now appears set to star for Argentina in their September World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Venezuela — an outcome that looked impossible at the end of June.

The Honduran under-23 side has achieved the previously unthinkable in advancing from Olympic group play over favorites Argentina and Algeria. On Wednesday, Honduras overcame alleged racism by Argentina to claim a vital draw against the South American giants.

Honduran striker Anthony Lozano gave his side the lead with a 75th minute penalty and celebrated by holding his finger to his lips.

After the match, he explained his actions: “I went to shut up an Argentine who made racist comments and I didn’t like it. That’s why I made the ‘silence’ [gesture] after the goal.

Newly appointed Argentina boss Edgardo Bauza has arrived in Barcelona in an attempt to bring Lionel Messi back into the international fold. The most important task facing Bauza over the coming months is to entreat the former Argentine captain to reconsider his early retirement.

The USWNT drew 2-2 against Colombia to top Group G in Manaus on Tuesday. Goals from Crystal Dunn and Mallory Pugh for the U.S. were cancelled out by two free kicks from Maria Catalina Usme, one of which was the result of an error by U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo.

Alfredo Talavera owes Erick Gutierrez a debt of gratitude. Talavera made the mistake that allowed Fiji to go 1-0 up on Mexico Sunday, and for a while it looked like Fiji might pull out the Olympic upset to end all Olympic upsets.

With a squad containing the likes of Neymar, Renato Augusto, Gabriel Jesus and Rafinha, it was understandable that a huge home crowd booed their own team off the pitch following a scoreless opening Olympic match against South Africa.

Brazil played the majority of the second half with a man advantage following Mothobi Mvala’s dismissal, but they could not find a way past South Africa despite registering 20 shots with seven of those on target.