Olympic Soccer 2016: Live-Stream Schedule, Predictions for Women's Medal Matches
After kicking off the 2016 Rio Olympic Games two days prior to the opening ceremony, the women's football will come to an end on Friday with the gold- and bronze-medal matches.
Battling for top honours will be Sweden and Germany, while host nation Brazil will take on Canada in the bronze event.
Read on for a closer look at how the two encounters might play out, but first, here is the schedule and live-streaming information:
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| Friday, August 19 | 5 p.m./12 p.m. | Brazil vs. Canada |
| Friday, August 19 | 9:30 p.m./4:30 p.m. | Sweden vs. Germany |
The matches can be streamed live via BBC iPlayer (UK) and NBCOlympics.com (USA).
Brazil vs. Canada
An Olympic gold medal is perhaps the only major honour to elude Brazil's women, who have twice taken silver.
On home soil, they will need to settle for a bronze after they lost to Sweden on penalties in the semi-final, but to claim the medal, they'll need to overcome the impressive Canada.
The match will pit two of the all-time greats of the women's game against one another: Brazil's Marta and Canada's Christine Sinclair, who boast over 250 international goals between them. The pair have bagged two apiece in Rio thus far, and how they each fare on Friday could have a big impact on the final outcome.
In midfield, there's set to be an intriguing battle between veteran campaigner Formiga and emerging talent Jessie Fleming.
The former has the edge on experience, as noted by Fox Soccer's Caitlin Murray and BBC Sport's Tim Vickery:
Meanwhile, 18-year-old Fleming has only recently arrived on the scene but already has 26 caps, having made her debut at 15 and played in last year's World Cup aged 17.
Neil Davidson of the Canadian Press and TSN's Gareth Wheeler have been impressed with her composed performances in the centre:
Per Davidson, she helped Canada boast 61 per cent of possession against Germany in the semi-final. Had they taken their chances, the game could have had a different outcome.
Indeed, they enjoyed four wins in their previous four matches, including victories over France and Germany, so finding the back of the net has not been a problem.
By contrast, after netting eight goals in their first two games—including five against Sweden—the Selecao have not scored in their last three.
They'll need to overcome the partisan crowd at the Maracana, but if Canada can play as they have throughout the tournament, they can come out on top here.
Prediction: Brazil 1-2 Canada
Sweden vs. Germany
After losing 5-1 to Brazil in their second group game—which followed a somewhat-uninspiring 1-0 win over South Africa—Sweden are showing that it's not about how you start a tournament, but how you finish it.
The Swedes have battled and scraped past world and Olympic champions the USA and hosts Brazil in the knockout phase of the tournament, reaching the gold-medal event after two successful penalty shootouts.
Canada international Kaylyn Kyle and Fox Sports' Grant Wahl hailed their defensive efforts:
"Sweden's block is tough to break down. #smarttatics
— Kaylyn Kyle (@KaylynKyle) August 16, 2016"
After their heavy defeat early in the competition, it's perhaps no surprise Sweden are adopting a more reserved approach, and it presents Germany with a headache as they look to find a way past the Blagult's defence.
The Germans have been a force to be reckoned with going forward in Rio, though, scoring in all five of their matches thus far.
Midfielder Melanie Behringer is a surprise top-scorer with five goals, and as football writer Ann Odong noted, she's not been shirking her duties in the centre either:
Sara Dabritz has also been impressive with three goals to her name. Per FIFA.com, she's eagerly anticipating the match:
"We'll get to experience the Olympic flavour. We'll be in the Olympic Village. And to be able to see how it all works is obviously fantastic. But we're focusing on the match. We've only got two days to recover. It's unbelievable to think that we'll be playing at the Maracana. That was our aim during our preparations for the tournament. We had this objective and this dream and now we've fulfilled it. Now we want to win the game.
"
As well as Behringer and Dabritz supplying goals from midfield, Germany also possess the likes of Alex Popp and Anja Mittag up front, so they have the firepower to break Sweden down.
It won't be easy, but Germany should just edge this contest.
Prediction: Sweden 0-1 Germany AET
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