Key events
14 min: Keeper holds it … holds it … holds it.
Arnold keeps the ball at her feet while the USA show no interest in pressing. I may have oversold this game’s entertainment value.
12 min: A US attack is a bit too ambitious.
Alexia Putellas has scored in the 17th minute of stoppage time to double Spain’s advantage over Brazil. I’ll calculate scenarios at halftime.
10 min: Having seen a replay of Germany’s goal vs. Zambia, I’m reminded that Zambia’s defense has not yet caught up to its offense.
Live group standings:
7 USA
6 Germany
4 Australia
0 Zambia
9 min: CHANCE for Rodman, and it’s a superb save for Arnold after the US forward makes a cutback move in the box to create plenty of space for her to whip a hard shot on goal.
The rebound falls to Smith, who has little time to react and shoots over the bar.
Germany have apparently scored already.
8 min: Australia try a counter, but I think it would’ve been called back as offside. That’s Australia’s first real effort at getting forward.
In Germany-Zambia, players are having a hard time staying upright.
6 min: CHANCE for the USA, with Horan barreling down the middle and playing to her left. It’s played across, but no one can get to the ball.
4 min: In case you’re wondering who else is in jeopardy …
USA: Trinity Rodman
Australia: Caitlin Foord, Alanna Kennedy
3 min: Yellow card to the USA’s Sam Coffey, which means she’ll miss the quarterfinals.
2 min: Looks like a potentially serious injury for German defender Kathrin Hendrich.
Kickoff
Here we go …
Quick thought from Peter Oh on Spain-Brazil: “Re: Spain – Brazil. It’s always good to see the famous yellow of … Spain’s shorts?!”
It’s an odd choice, isn’t it?
The Spain-Brazil game will have at least 16 minutes of stoppage time, and it’ll surely be more because Brazilian players have reached the stage at the game in which they’re falling to the ground. It’s as much exhaustion as it is gamesmanship.
I will not, therefore, be watching the rest of that game. I’m already planning to use my phone to keep an eye on Germany-Zambia. Only so many screens.
I’m still watching Spain-Brazil, and there’s a group of young-sounding fans uncomfortably close to the commentator’s microphone yelling something that sounds like “Zika!”
Do they think Hope Solo is playing?
Joe Pearson, whom I see from the main Olympics coverage today was watching when Marta picked up her red card, politely takes issue with my post on the knockout rounds …
Would it be a bad thing if the USA won!? There is no worse tempter of fate than to try to pick your future opponent. It is known.
Coincidentally, I listened to a podcast today about the 2012 badminton scandal in which several players were dismissed from the Games for giving, shall we say, an unspectacular effort in the hopes of gaming the system, so maybe I’m feeling a bit cynical.
I have mail …
Chris Paraskevas writes:
G’Day Beau, I was supposed to get some sleep before the 3am kick off but I decided a midnight movie would keep me awake nicely. The problem is, I chose “Don’t Look Now” (the Nicholas Roeg one where Donald Sutherland trips out in Venice). Hopefully the Matildas’ Olympic campaign doesn’t come to a similarly messy end tonight.
We haven’t looked convincing at any point since the World Cup (and indeed, throughout it). The Olympic qualifying campaign was more akin to a travelling roadshow / circus – Harlem Globetrotters style. Great for pumping up the brand but not the best litmus test for Tony G’s tactics.
I fear the worst tonight and will be up for another 8 hours at least once this caffeine hits… hopefully Lavelle has an off day (she is class).
She is indeed, but I sense that falling behind against Zambia awakened a very talented team. They’re one of few teams with the attacking panache to make things difficult for Naomi Girma and company. That said, the best way to stop the Smith/Swanson/Rodman trio might be to surreptitiously change the USA’s lineup card.
Would winning this game be a bad thing for the USA?
The first-place team in this group will face the second-place team in Group C, the Group of Death. If current scores hold, that’ll be Japan.
The second-place team in this group will face the second-place team in Group A. That’ll likely be France or Canada, but given Canada’s six-point penalty, Colombia would just need a draw to take that second spot. And in any case, Japan might be a tougher out than Canada at this point.
If a third-place team advances from this group, they’ll play the winner of Group A or Group C. Nothing like a lovely matchup against Spain to get a team’s attention.
And just as I hit “send,” Spain finally break through the stubborn Brazilian resistance to take a 1-0 lead.
I would expect the next 20 minutes to be extremely dull.
What’s at stake
For some reason, the Olympic women’s soccer tournament is only 12 teams, which gives us the awkward format in which each group’s top two teams and the two best third-place teams go through.
That means the USA are through, regardless of today’s results.
The Group B standings:
6 USA (+6 goal difference)
3 Germany (0 goal difference)
3 Australia (-2)
0 Zambia (-4)
In an absolute worst-case scenario for the Americans, in which Australia win today by at least four goals and Germany beat Zambia by at least two, the USA might drop to third place, pending other tiebreakers. But because Canada have suffered a massive six-point penalty and gone out and won two games anyway, there’s no way the third-place team in Group A can match the USA’s six points.
The Group A standings:
3 Colombia (+1)
3 France (0)
0 Canada (+2)
0 New Zealand (-3)
So there’s no way the third-place finisher would have more than three points, which means Australia would qualify with a draw.
If Australia lose, they’d have a slim chance of advancing. A Canadian loss or draw against Colombia would likely clinch a spot for the Matildas, barring a shocking result in the New Zealand-France game.
Finishing ahead of the third-place team in Group C is even less likely. Here’s how they stood before kickoff:
6 Spain (+2)
3 Japan (0)
3 Brazil (0)
0 Nigeria (-2)
Current scores:
Spain 0-0 Brazil – the big news is that one of the game’s all-time greats, Marta, was shown a red card for a high foot into a Spanish player’s head. She left the field, possibly for the last time on a major stage, in tears.
Japan 3-1 Nigeria
Even with 10 players, Brazil aren’t likely to concede three goals in 25 minutes plus stoppage time, and Spain would have no incentive to get them.
Australia lineup
What jumps out to me here is how much experience the Matildas have on the bench.
The back line is Steph Catley, Clare Hunt, Alanna Kennedy and Ellie Carpenter.
Kaitlyn Torpey and Katrina Gorry anchor the midfield behind the Arsenal duo of Caitlin Foord and Kyra Cooney-Cross, along with the peripatetic Hayley Raso. The ever-dangerous Mary Fowler is up front.
Even without Sam Kerr, the Australian lineup boasts seven players in The Guardian’s global top 100 – Foord (32), Fowler (56), Carpenter (58), Catley (60), Arnold (77), Raso (87), Cooney-Cross (89).
Arnold (Portland) and Torpey (San Diego) play in the USA, as do substitutes Emily van Egmond (San Diego) and Cortnee Vine (North Carolina).
USA lineup
As reported on this rather elegant graphic …
The change is Emily Sonnett replacing Tierna Davidson in central defense alongside Naomi Girma, though don’t be surprised if Sonnett, who has done some time in midfield, plays a bit further up.
Another versatile player, Crystal Dunn, is at left back but will be expected to contribute offensively. Emily Fox is on the right.
Rose Lavelle, Lindsey Horan and Sam Coffey will play amorphous roles in midfield. Lavelle, on her day, is one of the most astute playmakers the USA have ever had – typically, the USA don’t have a traditional No. 10, but she can fit the bill.
Mallory Swanson has the central role up front between Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman.
Preamble
Welcome to the group-stage finale in women’s soccer, a rekindling of the multihemispherical rivalry between the USA and Australia, and a matchup between two teams coming into this game on a massive high.
The US women played one of their best games in recent memory last time out, beating a talented and tough German team 4-1. Sophia Smith, Mallory Swanson and Trinity Rodman are breaking through as one of the most potent attacking trios the USA have ever had. Naomi Girma has quickly become one of the world’s top center backs. Rose Lavelle and Lindsey Horan have been inconsistent, but at their best, they’re tough to contain.
Australia’s hopes were all but gone 56 minutes into their game against Zambia, a team boasting the two most expensive players in women’s soccer. Racheal Kundananji’s second goal, added to Barbra Banda’s customary hat trick, gave the African side a 5-2 lead. An own goal brought Australia back into it. Steph Catley, an ever-reliable player not known for her goal-scoring exploits, scored a brace to tie it. Then Michelle Heyman, who came out of international retirement when the world-class striker Sam Kerr went out injured, netted the winner.
Get the popcorn. If you’re in Australia, get the caffeine. Let’s watch what could be a gem of a game.
Beau will be here shortly, but here’s how the Matildas kept their hopes alive with a wild win in their last game:
The greatest escape? In the history of international football, there have been comebacks. There have been thrillers. And then there was whatever the hell played out between Zambia and Australia in Nice on Sunday night.
The Matildas recovered from a three-goal deficit, a hat-trick from Zambian sensation Barbra Banda and a brace from the most expensive signing in women’s football Racheal Kundananji, to somehow emerge victorious. If the Matildas needed a heart attack to restart their Olympic campaign, they got one – and the three points that might just keep them at Paris 2024 beyond the group stage.
Perhaps never before has such an exciting game of Olympic football been enjoyed first-hand by so few. Only several thousand spectators had made the trek to the Stade de Nice, on the outskirts of the Mediterranean city. But they were treated to something spectacular and surreal, a see-sawing clash of attacking brilliance and defensive frailty of the kind rarely witnessed at this rarefied international level.
Already the obituaries were being written for the Matildas’ Olympic campaign. Already fans back home were sharpening their knives. Like the Marie Antoinette character in Friday’s opening ceremony, Matildas boss Tony Gustavsson’s head was firmly on the chopping block. Until suddenly it wasn’t.
1-0 Zambia. 1-1 Australia. 2-1 Zambia. 3-1 Zambia. 3-2 Australia. 4-2 Zambia. 5-2 Zambia. 5-3 Australia. 5-4 Australia. 5-5 Australia, through a VAR-awarded penalty, coolly slotted home by captain Steph Catley.
And then, at the death, super-sub Michelle Heyman found herself through on goal.
You can read the full report below:
