Mallory Swanson scored in the 57th minute and Alyssa Naeher made four saves to lead the U.S. women’s national team to its fifth Olympics gold medal with a 1-0 victory against Brazil in Paris on Saturday.
While the gold medal was its first since 2012, the U.S. also has a silver and a bronze in the eight Olympic tournaments. The only time the U.S. did not medal came in the Rio Olympics in 2016.
Naeher made a spectacular leaping save with her right hand in the 90+4 minute on a header by Adriana to preserve the win.
On the Swanson goal, Brazilian defender Thais gave away the ball to Korbin Albert at midfield and she fed a through ball to Swanson to start the break.
Sophia Smith was offside but she wisely stayed out of the play, and she and Swanson moved toward the goal with no defenders back. Swanson, in her 100th national team appearance, kept the ball and curled a shot from the left side of the box to the right corner for her fourth goal of the tournament.
The U.S. never trailed in the tournament and finished with three successive shutouts. The Americans outscored their six opponents 12-2.
New coach Emma Hayes is 9-0-1 with seven shutouts since debuting in June as the U.S. found redemption after its failure at the 2023 World Cup, when it didn’t reach the semifinals for the first time in nine tournaments, prompting the firing of Vlatko Andonovski.
Brazilian all-time leading scorer Marta, 38, did not start after being suspended the past two matches for a red card in what will be her final international tournament.
The six-time FIFA world player of the year, in her sixth Olympics, entered in the 61st minute.
Marta had twice previously been denied gold by the U.S., losing in extra time in 2004 and 2008. The latter was the only other time a team was shut out in the final (U.S., 1-0)
Naeher made the play of the first half in the second minute of stoppage time with a reactionary save on a half volley by Gabi Portilho from 6 yards to keep the match scoreless.
The U.S. is 33-3-5 vs. Brazil.
Germany defeated Spain 1-0 to win the bronze medal on Friday.
— Field Level Media
Gymnast Jordan Chiles took to social media on Thursday to publicly share her feelings for the first time since losing her bronze medal from the Paris Olympics in controversial fashion….
Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu will receive the bronze medal for her floor routine at the Paris Olympics on Friday in a ceremony in the capital city of Bucharest. The Romanian…
Viewership of the 2024 Paris Olympics averaged a combined 30.6 million per day for NBC Universal’s daytime and primetime coverage, an 82 percent increase from the 2020 Tokyo Games, the…
Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu to receive disputed bronze
Paris Olympics ratings up 82 percent over Tokyo Games
USA Gymnastics taking Jordan Chiles appeal to Swiss supreme court
U.S. ties China with 40 golds; Olympic flag handed to Los Angeles
Field Level Media - Professional sports content solutions | FLM
