August 05, (THEWILL) – It was not the Olympics Gold the United States Women’s National Team and FIFA World Cup champions wanted to add to their list of triumphs but they fought against a valiant Australian team to finish their participation at the Tokyo Olympics on the podium with a bronze medal after winning 4-3.
It was fitting too that playing in possibly their last Summer Games, the pair of football veterans Megan Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd scored two goals apiece to see the USWNT outscore a resilient Australian side, showing everything of that vintage high-pressure U.S. performance that had brought them this far.
Rapinoe gave the USWNT something to celebrate early in the match when she broke the deadlock in a spectacular fashion after only eight minutes of play. She showed that her 36 years aside, she still had it in her to stun the opponents. She went to take a corner kick and curled the ball from the corner directly into the net.
It was a turning back of the years for the American legend because in 2012, at 27-years-old, Rapinoe became the first to score from a corner at an Olympic Games in a semi-final fixture against neighbours Canada at the London Summer Games.
She repeated the feat to give America a fitting lead in the bronze match in Tokyo, nine whole years after. But, not done with that, she followed it up with another just as equally spectacular for the second. She hit a volley into the top corner after a defensive clearance fell perfectly to her in the box to double their lead.
The baton for America’s bronze medal then fell to the other veteran, 39-year-old Lloyd. It was the perfect stage for Lloyd to become America’s all-time leading scorer at the Olympics and she took the chance with two goals, one on either side of halftime.
Not to be outshone by her compatriot, Lloyd’s goals were just as fantastic, demonstrating every bit of flair and class associated with the USWNT. For her first, she found the back of the net with a brilliant diagonal shot that lodged into the far post. She saved the best for last, delivering a beautiful nutmeg of the goalkeeper to complete the scoring.
Australia was not prepared to go down without a fight and rallied valiantly in the last exchanges of the second half. They forced the USWNT to defend their goal after coming to within a goal of levelling scores.
Earlier on, Australian entre forward Sam Kerr got her sixth goal of the tournament for the Matildas early when she equalised at 1-1 in the 17th minute of the first half exchanges.
She could have registered a brace herself as well but unfortunately hit the inside of the U.S. post with a second half header and was crestfallen to see the ball bounce across the face of the goal and not go in. Caitlin Foord scored a second to bring the scores to 4-2. A last minute Emily Gielnik goal was as far as Australia went before the final whistle.
The Matildas put up a good fight but, the bronze went to Team USA for their first ever bronze football medal in Olympic history. Also, a fourth-place finish is the highest for Australia in their own Olympic history.
The gold will go to either Canada or Sweden both of whom are scheduled to clash in the final of the Tokyo Olympics football event on Thursday.
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.
