As in 2016 in Rio, the Americans were stopped in their quest for a fifth Olympic title, eliminated in the semi-finals of the Tokyo Games football tournament by the Canadians (1-0) on Monday in Kashima. “
It sucks, obviously you never want to lose,
” said Rapinoe. "
You never want to lose to Canada, you never want to lose playing like we did
." “
There are former members of the team who still feel the pain of 2012 (4-3 elimination after extra time against the Americans in the semi-finals of the Olympics). I'm just over the moon for these players,
”said Canadian coach Bev Priestman. "
We are going to the final with the firm intention of winning a gold medal
."
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The Canadians won thanks to a penalty transformed into force by Jessie Fleming (74th) after a Tierna Davidson foul on Deanne Rose.
The American selection, double reigning world champion and four times crowned at the Olympics (1996, 2004, 2008, 2012), has never completely convinced in Tokyo.
The Americans had been pushed on penalties by the Dutch in the quarterfinals (2-2, 4 tab to 2).
They had already had a difficult first round, starting with a 3-0 loss to Sweden, followed by a big win over New Zealand 6-1, but ended in a 0-0 draw against Australia.
In the second semi-final in Yokohama, Sweden found Australia, which they had already beaten in a group match 4-2. Rather dominated, Caroline Seger's team took advantage of a scramble at the start of the second period to score thanks to Fridolina Rolfö (46th). An advantage that Sweden, unbeaten for 16 matches in all competitions, retained until the end. The Scandinavian team will try Friday to offer themselves gold five years after their silver medal in Rio.