You solely wanted a cursory data of ladies’s soccer and a have a look at the teams for the ladies’s soccer match on the 2024 Olympics to see that the competitors had huge potential for leisure.
However even with these excessive expectations, the match has been absurd, sensible, dramatic and massively, massively entertaining, on and off the pitch.
There have been moments some would relatively neglect, however watching from afar – and with the Crew GB going unrepresented, leaving us with out a horse within the race – it has all been nice. Here is the highlights as far as we head into the ultimate.
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1. Dronegate
Bev Priestman paid along with her job over a scandal (Picture credit score: Alamy)
We begin earlier than the match even bought going. New Zealand raised a criticism after a drone was flown over their coaching session forward of going through Canada of their opening group recreation.
It turned out that not solely was it piloted by the Canadians, however that this had been frequent observe from them for fairly a while.
Supervisor Bev Priestman and two of her backroom employees had been stood down from their duties by Canada Soccer, with the trio newest suspended from all footballing exercise for a 12 months. And that wasn’t all…
2. Canada overcome the percentages (then get knocked out)
Canada had a mad previous match, proper? (Picture credit score: ARNAUD FINISTRE/AFP through Getty Photographs)
Canada had been additionally hit with a six-point group stage deduction for his or her sneaky sneaky spying, giving them an uphill battle to get out of their group with solely the highest two going by way of alongside two of one of the best three third-placed sides.
Extremely, they managed it anyway, following up a 2-1 comeback victory over New Zealand by as soon as once more coming from behind to beating hosts France, courtesy of a outstanding 102nd-minute aim by Vanessa Gilles.
Even after their deduction, that meant Canada completed second of their group and progressed to the quarter-finals as one of many kind groups within the competitors…solely to fall to Germany on penalties.
3. An 11-goal thriller
Australia had been (by some means) eradicated on the group stage (Picture credit score: VALERY HACHE/AFP through Getty Photographs)
And to assume we have not even left Group A till now. Even in a troublesome discipline, Group B was probably the most fascinating of the three, with powerhouses United States, Germany and Australia all drawn collectively alongside unfancied Zambia.
The US comfortably dispatched Zambia within the first set of group video games, whereas Germany offered an equally complete 3-0 win over Australia.
The Aussies might have been counting their blessings that they had Zambia up subsequent – their finest probability of getting three factors which may be sufficient on their very own to get by way of as one of many three finest third-placed sides, particularly in mild of Canada’s deduction within the different group.
Nicely, it turned out to be removed from simpler. Barbra Banda put Zambia forward inside a minute, just for Alanna Kennedy to reply with an equaliser six minutes later. By half time, Banda had a hat-trick and Zambia had been 4-2 up. 10 minutes after the restart, it was 5-2. Recreation over?
Nope. A Zambia personal aim quickly after the ninth kick-off of the sport gave Australia a glimmer of hope that they became a full-on bedazzling, with Steph Catley bagging a brace to make it 5-5 earlier than Michelle Heyman scored the eleventh and closing aim within the ninetieth minute to win it for Australia.
We will not think about there have been too many sides in any spherical robin tournaments who’ve scored six targets in one among their video games solely to be eradicated on aim distinction, however that is precisely what occurred to Australia. They misplaced 2-1 to the US of their closing recreation, and missed out on qualification to the quarter-finals because the lowest-ranking third-placed facet by only a single aim, with Brazil eking by way of of their place.
4. Marta’s second of insanity
Marta bought her reprieve (Picture credit score: Getty Photographs)
Lastly, group C. One of many biggest ladies’s gamers of all time, if not the biggest, Brazilian Marta introduced earlier this 12 months that the Olympics could be her closing foray in worldwide soccer after 22 years within the facet and over 200 caps.
However her worldwide profession practically led to tears – actually. The centre-forward put within the form of problem solely a centre-forward can in Brazil’s closing group stage recreation towards Spain, diving in left-foot first to a bouncing ball that was rattling close to 5 toes off the bottom in a trend Take a look at would have been happy with.
Marta’s studs caught the highest of Olga Carmona’s head, and the referee was left with no selection however to point out a pink card for the extremely harmful problem. Someway, Marta tried to plead her innocence, and was decreased to disbelieving tears when the official remained unmoved.
That was comprehensible, provided that Brazil’s hopes of getting out the group had been nonetheless within the steadiness after that they had contrived to take a 1-0 lead into harm time towards Japan solely to lose 2-1. Was this actually how Marta’s glittering Brazil profession was going to finish?
A two-match ban, ludicrously appealed, meant Brazil must attain the ultimate for Marta to have an opportunity to finish issues on a happier not.
Fortunately for her, they’ve achieved precisely that in her absence, regardless of simply barely scraping previous Australia to achieve the knockouts – regardless of occurring to lose 2-0 to Spain, who scored their second within the seventeenth minute of harm time.
Brazil will now face the USA in Saturday’s closing.
5. Cross, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go…
Naomi Girma: Midfield metronome (Picture credit score: Hannah Peters – FIFA/FIFA through Getty Photographs)
If a participant exceeds 100 passes per recreation, it’s noteworthy sufficient to earn an on-screen chiron and an impressed/scornful noise from a commentator.
So hats firmly off/decidely on to American centre-back Naomi Girma. In her 120 minutes towards Japan within the quarter-finals, she accomplished 200 of her 204 passes, accounting for 21% of all of the passes her facet performed towards Japan. 105 of these got here within the first half alone, probably the most Opta have ever recorded at a World Cup or Olympics.
Is that…good? Is that…extremely sterile and boring? Your perspective will differ. But it surely labored, nearly: the US gained 1-0 to e-book passage to the semis, the place Girma accomplished simply the 125 passes towards Germany.
6. The most effective factor that may occur in a penalty shootout
Ann-Katrin Berger steps up from 12 yards (Picture credit score: Alex Livesey/Getty Photographs)
Alright, other than that point Kepa Arrizabalaga got here on only for the shootout within the 2022 League Cup closing three years after refusing to go off in the identical circumstances, then failed to save lots of any penalties after which missed the decider.
However we’re alongside the proper strains, at the least. Who does not love seeing a goalkeeper stepping as much as take a decisive spot kick, in any case?
Not Canada, that is who. Former Chelsea goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger was elected to take Germany’s fifth spot kick within the quarter-finals having already saved from Ashley Lawrence and Adriana Leon. Berger calmly waited for her reverse quantity to commit a method and coolly slotted it into the alternative nook to ship Germany by way of to the semis.
Extra Olympics tales
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