Sweden Headed For Gold?

Canada headed for gold after their dynamic run? Also eagerly awaiting the match. Have an alarm set to wake up to watch it live.

Yes, Hail Canada, too! Christine Sinclair is a legend in these parts having played for the Portland Pilots and currently the captain of the Portland Thorns. Truly among the greats in the sport.

Game time is Thursday evening 10:00 eastern time.

Sweden has had a rock solid soccer/futbol team for awhile now. Sweden seems to have younger players and that makes a difference (speed). The USA team is aging. The Netherlands is excellent as well. France and England are quite respectable. I need to catch up on the women’s soccer tournament.

Ahh, yes, the US will not achieve their goal of back-to-back championship wins: World Cup title and Olympics title. We need some younger players! Best of luck to Sweden and Canada! Australia, here we come. The USMNT has much younger players and now a win against Mexico in the CONCACAF final and UEFA Nations League! Thank goodness for soccer in yet another covid summer. It is helping me keep my sanity.

Alan, thanks for the heads up on the correct time! I was still caffeine deprived and had set my alarm for the bronze match by mistake.

That Bronze Contest (USA v Australia) will be worthy of a watch as it's a rematch of one previously decided. The Matildas will be hurting from the absence of their best winger Ellie Carpenter, who was shown the Red Card for an idiotic tackle in stoppage time against Sweden. Great player - very foolish move. Emotions run high, sometimes.

Game time changed. Friday morning 8am eastern time.
https://www.sportsnet.ca/olympics/article/canada-vs-sweden-womens-soccer-final-moved-evening-due-heat-concerns/

USWNT captures Bronze with 4-3 win over Australia. In my opinion, the most exciting match of the series (so far).
The second half was a thriller.

I'm glad the game was moved, it was scheduled to be played at 4:00 Swedish time, now it will be a much more comfortable 14:00.

It will be interesting to see how it ends. I wont risk anything by making any predictions, but with a team captain named Seger (Victory), there must be at least a decent chance for Sweden's 3rd gold in this Olympics :-)

Congratulations to USWNT! I do wonder what might have happened, though, if Australia had been allowed their corner kick. As long as I'm wondering, I wonder what might have happened if the US hadn't taken down the Canadian player which resulted in a penalty kick (only their second shot on goal).

Congrats on the US Women's team winning the bronze. But as biased as I might be, I just feel this is a transitional period for the USWNT. They're getting older, simple as. They never looked quite right this tournament. Canada beating them for the first time in 20 years is testament to that. Go Canada Go! I could see Christine Sinclair hanging up the boots if we win tomorrow, the perfect sendoff.

Christine Sinclair certainly won't be hanging up her Thorns' Boots.....she still has the remainder of the NWSL season with, at present, The Thorns at the top of the table. Upon her retirement, I suspect The Thorns front office has plans for her.
Did you see the images of Christine hugging and consoling USWNT midfielder (and Thorns teammate) Lindsey Horan after Canada's victory over USA? A pure class act - and she did the same respectful consoling with Marta after Canada's victory against Brazil. In both instances, Christine attempted to comfort her respected rivals prior to celebrating victory with her Canadian Teammates. We love her in Portland.

Haha, you'd know better than I would as I don't follow Sinclair's club exploits (but I know she played for Portland!). But yes, I hope she continues her club career. I think this will likely be her last international appearance though (hope she proves me wrong!)

Without turning this into a "Christine Sinclair Love-In", I'll just add this. Her contributions to the sport cannot be overestimated - both as an athlete and as a person. Her post-match interviews are always deflections away from her brilliant play as she prefers to spotlight the contributions of her teammates. Some have asked, As team captain, why didn't she take the PK against USA as the minutes were grinding down to eventual victory? Look who was in goal for USA - A.D. Franch - Christine's teammate at Portland. Too big a risk - too much training familiarity - give the spotlight to Jessie Fleming.
GOAL!

Way to go CANADA! I went to bed thinking that Sweden was going to rout Canada. What a game! Congratulations!

Well played! Congratulations ladies! I always like it better when a game is decided in regulation play, rather than on penalty kicks, but good for Julia Grosso on that last kick.

Congrats to our women for winning that elusive gold! The future looks bright!

Without turning this into a "Christine Sinclair Love-In", I'll just
add this. Her contributions to the sport cannot be overestimated -
both as an athlete and as a person.

She deserves her love-in, and I'm so happy for a quality person like that to finally rise to the top. The greatest international goal scorer of all time in women's soccer, but also a great role model. About 12 years ago my daughter's soccer team was among a group of teams invited to meet with some members of the national team and I was impressed how seriously Christine took her role and had time for every girl that wanted to meet her.