Brazil absolutely dominated Sweden during their Olympic semi-final match on Tuesday. The final statistics show that Brazil had 67% of possession and nine shots on goal compared to Sweden’s two. However, Sweden rode their luck to a second consecutive penalty shootout victory following their similar upset of the USWNT.
Sweden does it again!
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.
We've already covered many of the terrible things that have gone on before and during the Olympics, but here's a refresher: the Zika virus, deadly bacteria in the water, the police and fire departments can't protect anybody, everything is dirty, the diving pool turned green, it's really hot, a camera fell on some people, the Olympic Village is unfit for human habitation and the Sweden Women's National Team is making soccer unwatchable.
In defense of Hope Solo, her comments about the USA’s loss to Sweden have come in the heat of the moment — fresh off a devastating defeat, it’s understandable that she’s completely lost the plot.
Alright, that’s enough of defending Hope Solo.
The United States women’s national team clawed their way back into their quarter-final match against Sweden, but were unable to find a winner in 120 minutes of action. The lottery of penalties ultimately doomed the four-time gold medalists.
It was the first penalty shootout in the history of women’s soccer at the Olympics, and the USWNT were unable to conquer their nerves as Sweden emerged victorious, 4-3.
Neymar and Brazil's men have been so bad in the Olympics that Neymar has reportedly been stripped of the Brazil captainship. Fortunately, Marta and Brazil's women are here to save the day, so much so that fans have started turning Neymar jerseys into Marta jerseys.
The USWNT has made it through their toughest game (on paper) of the group stage at the Olympics unscathed, beating the third-ranked team in the world, France, 1-0.
The goal, if you haven't already heard, came from USA co-captain and destroyer of worlds Carli Lloyd, who pounced on the rebound from a Tobin Heath shot that came off the post.
The USWNT got their Olympics off to the start everyone was hoping for with a comfortable, injury-free 2-0 win against New Zealand.
New Zealand played a physical, bruising style of soccer, but in the end the USWNT's skill advantage won out.
Having the best player in the world helps too. Carli Lloyd got the USWNT on the board in the first half, heading in a Tobin Heath cross.
Nahikari Garcia is a name you most likely have never heard before, but trust us, you'll remember it now. Let's set the stage. Nahikari Garcia is the captain of the U-19 Spanish women's team.
Now, it's not easy being a team captain, especially at that age. You're expected to be the leader, a beacon of consistency and strength. You're expected to come through when your team needs you. That's why we feel really, really bad for Nahikari Garcia.
USWNT defender Becky Sauerbrunn took some time out from preparing for the Olypics to play "fair or foul" with The Players Tribune. She gave her opinion on studs-up challenges, artificial turf, Harry Potter, crunchy peanut butter, beards and more. She was spot on about crunchy peanut butter and beards.