Olympic Soccer 2016: TV Schedule, Live Stream and Women's Semifinal Times
With the United States eliminated, the women's soccer tournament at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games is now wide open.
The Americans were the clear favorites as the three-time defending champions in this event as well as the reigning FIFA World Cup champions. After topping their group in the preliminary stage, however, they were the first team eliminated in the quarterfinals, as Sweden pulled off a massive upset.
Now the question is which of the four remaining teams will win two more games and take home the gold. Based on the competitive play we have seen so far, the upcoming rounds should feature more drama.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
| Aug. 16 | Brazil vs. Sweden | 12 p.m. | NBC Sports |
| Aug. 16 | Germany vs. Canada | 3 p.m. | NBC Sports |
Both matches are available to be streamed online at NBCOlympics.com.
Brazil vs. Sweden
Sweden pulled off the big surprise of the tournament, and while the players were excellent in the win, the story after the game was about the tactics.
After United States goalkeeper Hope Solo called her opponents "cowards" for their defensive approach, former U.S. and current Sweden coach Pia Sundhage responded, "It's OK to be a coward if you win," per Anne M. Peterson of the Associated Press.
It makes sense to avoid playing to the Americans' strengths when you can win by playing tight and avoiding mistakes. As she told Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated, this won't change in the semifinals:
The improved defense and conservative strategy will help keep things closer than the 5-1 score from the last time they played, but it will take a whole lot to keep up the momentum with another win.
Brazil also needed penalty kicks to advance in the quarterfinals against Australia, but the squad has been too consistent in this tournament, especially on the defensive end. In four matches, the team has only conceded a single goal, which came from Sweden when leading 5-0 in the 89th minute.
If Sweden want to play defensively in this match, it seems unlikely they will get more than a handful of chances in 90 minutes, with a goal being very unlikely.
With Brazil playing at home and having plenty of offensive talent between Marta, Beatriz and others, they should find a way to score at least one goal and secure the win.
Prediction: Brazil 1, Sweden 0
Canada vs. Germany
Like the first semifinal, this is another rematch of a game that occurred during the group stage.
The two sides battled for the top spot in Group F, and Canada came away with an impressive win thanks to a 60th-minute goal by Melissa Tancredi. The defense remained tough to hold the lead for the remainder of the contest, helping Canada become the only team to earn three wins in the preliminary round.
Jonathan Tannenwald of Philly.com gave his response to the result:
Canada has kept the surprises coming with a 1-0 victory over France in the quarterfinals, making the team 4-0 with nine goals scored and just two allowed in this tournament. With momentum and confidence, there is no reason to believe this strong play is going to stop any time soon.
On the other hand, Germany has the talent but hasn't performed to expectations so far in Rio. Taking away an easy win against overmatched Zimbabwe, the squad now just has one win in the other three matches. The defense was sloppy against Canada and Australia, while the win over China was too close for comfort.
Germany is capable of turning it on and winning the next two games to take gold, but we haven't seen enough to expect this type of turnaround in the upcoming matchup.
Prediction: Canada 2, Germany 1
Follow Rob Goldberg on Twitter for year-round sports analysis.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
