Women’s Section
Group E: Brazil, China, Sweden, South Africa
Group F: Canada, Australia, Zimbabwe, Germany
Group G: USA, New Zealand, France, Colombia
The draw for the football tournaments at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games threw up some mouth-watering clashes as the groups were defined at the Maracanã Stadium on Thursday morning (14 April) morning.
Brazil were drawn in a difficult group with Sweden, China and South Africa, while Olympic and world champions the USA will face New Zealand, France and Colombia. Three of the sides most expected to challenge the USA – Germany, Canada and Australia – were drawn together with Zimbabwe.
The teams were drawn by a host of big names in Brazilian sport – former Barcelona star and FIFA world player of the year Ronaldinho, former Brazil women’s football captain Aline Pellegrino, retired volleyball star Janeth Arcain and 2008 long jump Olympic champion Maurren Maggi – in the main auditorium at the Maracanã, the legendary stadium that will host the women’s and men’s finals on 19 and 20 August.
The women’s tournament will get underway with six matches on 3 August, and the top two from each of the groups, plus the two best third-placed teams, will proceed to the quarter-finals. The first match will be Sweden v South Africa in the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro at 1pm (local time) on 3 August, two days before the opening ceremony.
Source – www.rio2016.com
