After the longest medal ceremony ever, well it was quite long, we grabbed some reaction from some of the main players in the three medalling teams…
Carli Lloyd (USA midfielder)
On her emotions about scoring the winning goals:
This is pretty crazy. Back in Beijing (at 2008 Oly Games Gold Medal match) I scored the only goal against Brazil and now I have scored two goals in the final here.
Maybe for my third Olympic final I’m going to have to score a hat-trick.
On her superb second goal:
What I do best is dribbling and making shots from distance. It opened up and I just kept going and just unleashed it. I didn’t think too much and it went in the back of the net.
On the difference between this win and Beijing 2008:
The emotions are very different. I think I was in a little bit of shock in 2008 that I had scored such a big goal.
But I feel I have played really well in this entire tournament. I tried to step u and lead things and was trying to be the player who would make the difference.
Hope Solo (USA goalkeeper)
On her performance in the final:
You can’t win a major tournament without some great goalkeeping. The Japan goalkeeper also made some great saves. It’s a team effort but I’m proud to contribute finally.
On teammate Carli Lloyd:
My heart goes out to Carli. She stepped up when she needed to step up. She is a big-time player who steps up when she needs to.
Yuki Ogimi (Japan forward and scorer)
On finishing with silver:
We could not get the gold medal but a silver medal is very valuable.
On whether she thought Japan could win after she scored to make it 2-1 with 30 minutes to play:
Of course, I felt we could come back. But unfortunately, we could not get the result in the end.
Christine Sinclair (Canada forward and top scorer in the tournament with 5 goals)
On winning a Bronze Medal:
I am in shock. A group of us have been together a long time. We have experienced the highs and lows of international soccer. Nothing compares to this. I do not think any of us after last year’s World Cup would have thought this possible.
On the work done by British coach John Herdman:
John came along with his staff and completely changed our programme. Each one of us has the belief we can beat any team on any day. We proved that in this tournament. This is for the teammates that stuck with me through the bad days, 10-12 years ago. This is for them.
On Diana Matheson’s winning goal:
The French probably had 10 golden opportunities. It is a funny game sometimes. We get our one chance in the dying seconds. Di is so composed. She struck the ball so cleanly. As were celebrating the referee said there was only 10 seconds left. It hit us the game was over and we had won a medal.
On the contribution of Erin McCleod:
Today she proved that if she is not the best goalkeeper in the world, she should be in the discussion.
More to come in the morning…when we have recovered! What a fab night. Hope you enjoyed it too.
IMAGES: Gavin Ellis/SHEKICKS/tgsphoto.co.uk
SHE KICKS at the Olympics
SHE KICKS – the online community for women’s football
