Rio Olympics: Sweden-Germany set for gold-medal game
- by Paul Kennedy @pkedit, Aug 16, 2016
The Sweden-Brazil shootout bore a striking resemblance to the Sweden-USA shootout three days earlier. Brazilian Cristiane and Sweden's Kosovare Asllani in the second round to leave the teams tied at 3-3 heading into the fifth round.
Goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl blocked Andressa's shot, and Lisa Dahlkvist scored the winner for Sweden, just as she did against the USA.
"It's not for me to criticize an opponent as their strategy worked," said Brazil coach Vadao of the Swedish tactics, "and they had good results in both matches against us and the USA."
Brazil started off the Olympics with a 3-0 win over China and 5-1 victory over Sweden, but it didn't score a goal after that, playing three scoreless draws.
Germany set up the first all-European gold-medal game as it reserved a 2-1 loss to Canada in their final group game with a 2-0 win on goals by Melanie Behringer from the penalty spot and Sara Dabritz.
Women's Soccer Schedule:
BRONZE-MEDAL GAME
Aug. 19 in Sao Paulo
Brazil vs. Canada
GOLD-MEDAL GAME
Aug. 19 in Rio de Janeiro
Germany vs. Sweden
Women's Soccer Results:
SEMIFINALS
Aug. 16 in Rio de Janeiro
Brazil 0 Sweden 0.
(Sweden wins 4-3 on penalties.)
Aug. 16 in Belo Horizonte
Germany 2 Canada 0.
QUARTERFINALS
Aug. 12 in Brasilia
USA 1 Sweden 1.
(Sweden wins 4-3 on penalties.)
Aug. 12 in Salvador
Germany 1 China 0.
Aug. 12 in Sao Paulo
Canada 1 France 0.
Aug. 12 in Belo Horizonte
Brazil 0 Australia 0
(Brazil wins 7-6 on penalties.)
GROUP E
Aug. 3 in Rio de Janeiro
Sweden 1 South Africa 0.
Aug. 3 in Rio de Janeiro
Brazil 3 China 0.
Aug. 6 in Rio de Janeiro
China 2 South Africa 0
Aug. 6 in Rio de Janeiro
Brazil 5 Sweden 1
Aug. 9 in Manaus
Brazil 0 South Africa 0
Aug. 9 in Brasilia
China 0 Sweden 0
Standings
PTS TEAM W-T-L +/-
7 Brazil 2-1-0 8/1
4 China 1-1-1 2/3
4 Sweden 1-1-1 2/5
1 South Africa 0-1-2 0/3
GROUP F
Aug. 3 in Sao Paulo
Canada 2 Australia 0.
Aug. 3 in Sao Paulo
Germany 6 Zimbabwe 1.
Aug. 6 in Sao Paulo
Canada 3 Zimbabwe 1
Aug. 6 in Sao Paulo
Germany 2 Australia 2
Aug. 9 in Brasilia
Canada 2 Germany 1
Aug. 9 in Salvador
Australia 6 Zimbabwe 1
Standings
PTS TEAM W-T-L +/-
9 Canada 3-0-0 7/2
4 Germany 1-1-1 9/5
4 Australia 1-1-1 8/5
0 Zimbabwe 0-0-3 3/15
GROUP G
Aug. 3 in Belo Horizonte
USA 2 New Zealand 0.
Aug. 3 in Belo Horizonte
France 4 Colombia 0.
Aug. 6 in Belo Horizonte
USA 1 France 0
Aug. 6 in Belo Horizonte
New Zealand 1 Colombia 0
Aug. 9 in Manaus
USA 2 Colombia 2
Aug. 9 in Salvador
France 3 New Zealand 0
Standings
PTS TEAM W-T-L +/-
7 USA 2-1-0 5/2
6 France 2-0-1 7/1
3 New Zealand 1-0-2 1/5
1 Colombia 0-1-2 2/7
8 comments about "Rio Olympics: Sweden-Germany set for gold-medal game".
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Well Sweden has really raised the bar for playing exciting soccer. Almost as much fun to watch as the 4 corners offense of college basketball. There were so many blue players behind the ball I thought Sweden had added a couple of players a few times. Hopefully Germany can teach Sweden a painful lesson.
Well said Nelson. You can defend the Swedish style as effective, which it clearly is, but it's also damn boring for a neutral. For me, playing like that is a good way to turn people off the game.
I think this will be an interesting game to watch. I wonder how many people will be in the stadium.
My daughter has spent time in Sweden studying Swedish language and culture. Once they found out she was an American they all wanted to speak English.
She now lives in Germany so I guess she hopes as a fan Germany will win the game.
As in most games when 2 good teams play each other it could come down to which teams match up better.
Just hope it does no go to pks.
Richard: The last two Sweden games have not been interesting, and I doubt this one will. On the other hand, if Germany can get an early goal and force Sweden to play, maybe we'll get a real game.
Great coaching by Pia! You do coach and play the game at that level to be exciting, fun and pretty but to win. Defending is hard work and teaching it to be effective is also hard work and challenging. I am very impressed by Sweden's cohesive and patient defending. Great job!
Correction: You do not coach and play the game to at that level to be exciting, fun and pretty but to win.
If Sweden is that good defensively, then Germany should try the same and just let it come down to PK's. Yawn! It's what makes me and others want to see rule revisions.
Rex, remember that TACTICS are effective when they are based on the players and not what the Coach wants.
If you are trying to play fast and all your players are slow, you will choke. Yawn is only for those who are impatient and only want to see goals! There is more to soccer than scoring goals!