Friday 12th August
OLYMPIC GAMES QUARTER-FINALS
USA 1-1 Sweden (aet, Sweden won 4-3 on pens)
China 0-1 Germany
Canada 1-0 France
Brazil 0-0 Australia (aet, Brazil won 7-6 on pens)
Sweden were first into the final four, although Alex Morgan cancelled out Stina Blackstenius’s 77th-minute opener. The USA piled on the pressure but were unable to find a second goal and the tie eventually went to a shoot-out – after disallowed goals at either end in the space of a minute – in which Lisa Dahlkvist hit the decider.
Germany were dominant against China, who struggled to retain any amount of possession throughout the game. They then lost Wang Shanshan to a second caution before Melanie Behringer blasted home from distance. Extra-time was on the cards when China were awarded a late penalty but Wang Shuang was denied by the post.
Canada eliminated France by the only goal of the game. Sophie Schmidt popped up to score 11 minutes into the second half, and set up a semi-final with Germany on Tuesday, 8pm kick-off UK time.
The hosts could not be seperated from Australia with no goals in 120 minutes. Even when it came to the shoot-out, that went to sudden death before Tamires converted for Brazil and Alanna Kennedy’s effort was saved by Barbara. Brazil now clash with Sweden in Tuesday’s first semi-final at 5pm UK time.
