Her ball toward Sinclair caught the Swedish defence out, Amanda Ilestedt clipped the left foot of the veteran forward from behind and, after a two-minute VAR consultation, up stepped the 23-year-old Fleming to send Lindahl the wrong way and draw Canada level.Ĭanada too have suffered in this competition with back-to-back bronze medals in London and Rio having twice missed out on the final to the eventual gold medallists both times, the US and then Germany. It would be the introduction of Deanne Rose though, the player brought down for Canada’s penalty against the United States in their semi-final, that would pull them back into the game. Looking to get Canada’s players on the ball more Priestman, the first English manager in an Olympic final since George Raynor in 1948, made two half-time changes, bringing on Grosso and the West Ham forward Adriana Leon. As the clock had ticked towards the new 9pm kick-off at the replacement Yokohama Stadium, the temperature was 29C with 75% humidity and phones showed the “feels like” temperature as 34C. Photograph: Tiziana Fabi/AFP/Getty ImagesĪs players grabbed water bottles from the touchline at every opportunity, the original mind-boggling decision of the IOC to hold the game in the searing 11am heat at the shot-put-cratered Tokyo Olympic Stadium looked even more ludicrous. It took Blackstenius, who plays for Sweden’s BK Häcken, until the 34th minute to give Sweden the edge in the chess match playing out on the pitch as she poked in Kosovare Asllani’s cross after the midfielder had danced past two defenders on the right to give the Swedes hope that they would exorcise the pain of their silver medal in Rio and their bronze at the World Cup in 2019.Ĭanada’s goalkeeper Stephanie Labbé gets to the ball in a crowded penalty area. Canada had similarly conceded three goals in normal time (the team’s 0-0 draw with Brazil went to penalties too). Sweden had conceded three times and kept three clean sheets on their run to their second successive Olympic final. However, there is a reason that Sweden and Canada progressed at the expense of the swashbuckling third- and fourth-placed teams. “Listen, I can see every player did it for themselves, for their country but also for an absolute legend.”įor those expecting a thriller to match the seven-goal spectacle between the USA and Australia in the battle for bronze the night before, there will have been disappointment. “An all-time great who’s going to go on for another four years, I can feel it, I can sense it,” she said with a big smile. Priestman said she was proud to have helped finally get gold around the neck of Sinclair. “Bev definitely brought that to our team and we have a gold medal so she must have done something right.” “We now play to our strengths,” she said. “Ouch!”, she added, when reminded that her manager is three years younger than her, before explaining that the team was now embracing its talents.
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