United States women’s goalkeeper Hope Solo was right. She was brilliant on Thursday as the United States defeated Brazil 1-0 in overtime to win the Olympic gold medal. The U.S. was outplayed for much of the game but Solo continually denied Brazil and Carli Lloyd scored in overtime to give the U.S. the win.Four years ago the U.S. also defeated Brazil for the gold medal. It was the third gold medal in women's soccer for the United States with the only loss coming to Norway in 2000. "The team is definitely on a high right now, believing we were going to make a statement in the whole tournament," U.S. captain Christie Rampone said. "It didn't start like we wanted to, but we just kept digging and getting better each game. It was a full team effort, and it was so special with everyone doing it together."
The story of the game was goalkeeper Hope Solo. She made numerous saves to keep the United States in the game. She made a brilliant save on Brazil star Marta in the 72nd minute on what looked like a sure Brazilian goal. She also stopped Marta in the final minutes of extra time. Solo can definitely claim redemption now after she was benched by former coach Greg Ryan against Brazil in the World Cup. The U.S. was shutout 4-0 in that game and Solo ripped her coach for the decision which alienated her from the team. New coach Pia Sundhage helped heal the damage after Ryan was fired and Solo reclaimed her job.
The gold medal game on Thursday was played on a wet field that was soaked by rain. Neither team did much in the first 20 minutes. Brazil had the first scoring chance in the 31st minute but Solo made a nice save on Cristiane. Moments later Marta was just wide on a nice shot. "I have no idea why we can't win a final," said Marta, "It's something I'm gonna keep asking myself for a long time. You keep asking what you did wrong. I'm more mad than sad. Again we had a chance to win the gold and again we let it slip away. It's hard to say why that keeps happening to us."
The United States had some good chances late in the game. Angela Hucles nearly scored in the 86th minute while Amy Rodriguez nearly won the game at the end of regulation.In the battle for third place it was Germany defeating Japan 2-0 to win the bronze. Check the complete medal standings at BSNblog.
