August 06, (THEWILL) – Canada clinched their maiden Olympic football gold in their first ever final of the event at a Summer Olympics competition on Friday with goalkeeper Stephanie Labbe as the penalty shoot-out hero after they finished the final 1-1 after extra time.
While Stina Blackstenius’ first-half opener gave the Scandinavians the lead and kept them ahead, she benefitted from the hard work of Kosovare Asllani, who dispossessed Quinn, Canada’s midfielder before rolling to Blackstenius to finish off.
Jessie Fleming levelled the scores with a spot-kick after half-time after VAR determined that a foul by Amanda Ilestedt on Christine Sinclair, whose 187 goals for Canada make her the all-time leading goalscorer in international football, merited a spot-kick.
Sweden could have still won in regulation time but for the heroics of Canada’s Kadeisha Buchanan, their last-ditch hero, who saved the day with a clearance off the line to keep Asllani’s opportunity from going in and force the game into extra-time.
As neither side could find a winner in the additional 30 minutes, it was up to penalties for a decider between which of the two sides will find a way through to the gold medal. That was where Labbe’s heroism shone through, saving two penalties to give Sweden the opportunity for the victory.
Julia Gross stepped up for the decisive kick and made no mistake, striking the ball into the bottom left corner to seal the first gold for the Canadians, who had previously, in 2012 and 2016, ended up with bronzes.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
