OneFootball
Chloe Digby·6 August 2024
OneFootball
Chloe Digby·6 August 2024
All four remaining sides in the Women’s Olympic tournament are in action on Tuesday evening.
Here’s what happened.
Scorers: Paredes (OG) 6′, Portilho 45+4′, Adriana 72′, Kerolin; Paralluelo 85′, 90+11
Disaster hit Spain early on as the ball was played back to goalkeeper Cata Coll, who mishit her clearance into Brazil’s Priscilla and rebounded off Irene Paredes and into the back of the net.
Spain slowly recovered and began to get a foothold into the game, but just as Brazil shocked them at the start of the first half, they did the same at the end of it too.
A fantastic cross from Yasmin was steered home by Gabi Portilho deep into added time, sending Spain in at the break with plenty to think about.
Into the second half and Spain were not looking like their usual selves, and were punished by a dominant Brazil when Adriana finally nodded home after her initial shot hit the bar and had pinged around the box.
Nerves were jangling when Salma Paralluelo headed home from a corner, and shortly afterwards an Alexia Putellas effort was tipped onto the crossbar by goalkeeper Lorena.
Brazil were just too good on this occasion and another defensive lapse saw Kerolin sealed their place in the final by rolling the ball under the legs of Cata Coll.
Paralluelo added a consolation tap-in from a corner deep into added time, with the officials opting to play an added 15 minutes on top of the 90.
Scorers: Smith 95′
USA battled hard against a determined Germany side to edge out a 1-0 win in extra-time that saw them through to the final.
Germany set up to contain the attacking prowess of USA, after losing 4-1 to Emma Hayes’ side during the group stages.
That tactic worked well, as it took over an hour for the first big chance as Mallory Swanson hit the side netting with a shot.
USA had the ball in the back of the net as normal time was coming to an end, but the strike was ruled out for offside.
Into extra time, and the Germany defence was finally breached by Sophia Smith, who has been directly involved in a goal in five of her side’s six matches at the Olympics.
That decisive strike came from a neat counter-attacking move, culminating in Swanson slipping in Smith, who finished between defender and goalkeeper with typical precision.
Germany had a good chance to score with a Ann Katrin Berger header in the final minutes of extra time, but Alyssa Naeher pulled off a breathtaking stop to keep her side in front.
The Women’s final will take place on Saturday at 17:00 CET in Paris, while the bronze medal playoff will be held on Friday at 15:00 CET.