You solely wanted a cursory data of girls’s soccer and a have a look at the teams for the ladies’s soccer event on the 2024 Olympics to see that the competitors had huge potential for leisure.
However even with these excessive expectations, the event has been absurd, good, dramatic and vastly, vastly entertaining, on and off the pitch.
There have been moments some would slightly neglect, however watching from afar – and with the Workforce GB going unrepresented, leaving us with no horse within the race – it has all been nice. Here is the highlights as far as we head into the ultimate.
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1. Dronegate
We begin earlier than the event even acquired going. New Zealand raised a criticism after a drone was flown over their coaching session forward of going through Canada of their opening group recreation.
It turned out that not solely was it piloted by the Canadians, however that this had been frequent observe from them for fairly a while.
Supervisor Bev Priestman and two of her backroom employees have been stood down from their duties by Canada Soccer, with the trio newest suspended from all footballing exercise for a 12 months. And that wasn’t all…
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2. Canada overcome the chances (then get knocked out)
Canada have been additionally hit with a six-point group stage deduction for his or her sneaky sneaky spying, giving them an uphill battle to get out of their group with solely the highest two going by alongside two of the perfect three third-placed sides.
Extremely, they managed it anyway, following up a 2-1 comeback victory over New Zealand by as soon as once more coming from behind to beating hosts France, courtesy of a outstanding 102nd-minute aim by Vanessa Gilles.
Even after their deduction, that meant Canada completed second of their group and progressed to the quarter-finals as one of many type groups within the competitors…solely to fall to Germany on penalties.
3. An 11-goal thriller
And to suppose we have not even left Group A till now. Even in a tricky area, Group B was essentially the most fascinating of the three, with powerhouses United States, Germany and Australia all drawn collectively alongside unfancied Zambia.
The US comfortably dispatched Zambia within the first set of group video games, whereas Germany offered an equally complete 3-0 win over Australia.
The Aussies might have been counting their blessings that they had Zambia up subsequent – their finest likelihood of getting three factors which may be sufficient on their very own to get by as one of many three finest third-placed sides, particularly in mild of Canada’s deduction within the different group.
Effectively, it turned out to be removed from simpler. Barbra Banda put Zambia forward inside a minute, just for Alanna Kennedy to reply with an equaliser six minutes later. By half time, Banda had a hat-trick and Zambia have been 4-2 up. 10 minutes after the restart, it was 5-2. Sport over?
Nope. A Zambia personal aim quickly after the ninth kick-off of the sport gave Australia a glimmer of hope that they changed into a full-on bedazzling, with Steph Catley bagging a brace to make it 5-5 earlier than Michelle Heyman scored the eleventh and last aim within the ninetieth minute to win it for Australia.
We won’t think about there have been too many sides in any spherical robin tournaments who’ve scored six targets in one in all their video games solely to be eradicated on aim distinction, however that is precisely what occurred to Australia. They misplaced 2-1 to the US of their last recreation, and missed out on qualification to the quarter-finals because the lowest-ranking third-placed aspect by only a single aim, with Brazil eking by of their place.
4. Marta’s second of insanity
Lastly, group C. One of many best girls’s gamers of all time, if not the best, Brazilian Marta introduced earlier this 12 months that the Olympics could be her last foray in worldwide soccer after 22 years within the aspect and over 200 caps.
However her worldwide profession almost led to tears – actually. The centre-forward put within the sort of problem solely a centre-forward can in Brazil’s last group stage recreation towards Spain, diving in left-foot first to a bouncing ball that was rattling close to 5 toes off the bottom in a style Check would have been happy with.
Marta’s studs caught the highest of Olga Carmona’s head, and the referee was left with no selection however to point out a purple card for the extremely harmful problem. One way or the other, Marta tried to plead her innocence, and was diminished to disbelieving tears when the official remained unmoved.
That was comprehensible, on condition that Brazil’s hopes of getting out the group have been nonetheless within the steadiness after that they had contrived to take a 1-0 lead into harm time towards Japan solely to lose 2-1. Was this actually how Marta’s glittering Brazil profession was going to finish?
A two-match ban, ludicrously appealed, meant Brazil must attain the ultimate for Marta to have an opportunity to finish issues on a happier not.
Fortunately for her, they’ve completed precisely that in her absence, regardless of simply barely scraping previous Australia to achieve the knockouts – regardless of occurring to lose 2-0 to Spain, who scored their second within the seventeenth minute of harm time.
Brazil will now face the USA in Saturday’s last.
5. Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go…
If a participant exceeds 100 passes per recreation, it’s noteworthy sufficient to earn an on-screen chiron and an impressed/scornful noise from a commentator.
So hats firmly off/decidely on to American centre-back Naomi Girma. In her 120 minutes towards Japan within the quarter-finals, she accomplished 200 of her 204 passes, accounting for 21% of all of the passes her aspect performed towards Japan. 105 of these got here within the first half alone, essentially the most Opta have ever recorded at a World Cup or Olympics.
Is that…good? Is that…extremely sterile and boring? Your perspective will range. However it labored, nearly: the US received 1-0 to e-book passage to the semis, the place Girma accomplished simply the 125 passes towards Germany.
6. The perfect factor that may occur in a penalty shootout
Alright, aside from that point Kepa Arrizabalaga got here on only for the shootout within the 2022 League Cup last three years after refusing to go off in the identical circumstances, then failed to save lots of any penalties after which missed the decider.
However we’re alongside the proper traces, at the very least. Who does not love seeing a goalkeeper stepping as much as take a decisive spot kick, in spite of everything?
Not Canada, that is who. Former Chelsea goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger was elected to take Germany’s fifth spot kick within the quarter-finals having already saved from Ashley Lawrence and Adriana Leon. Berger calmly waited for her reverse quantity to commit a technique and coolly slotted it into the alternative nook to ship Germany by to the semis.
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