The final will be Sweden playing Canada for a gold medal on 6 August 2021 at 11 am local time in the National Stadium in Tokyo. Like before, I'll let you all figure out (and possibly post here to help others) when and where the game is broadcast in your area of the world.
Do I support the UEFA team or Bev Priestman? Hmmm. In the end I just think Sweden deserve it more. They have tried to win games, whereas Canada have been more pragmatic.
Sweden is guaranteed to win. They are DYING to finally win Gold in a major tournament. Canada is already celebrating their victory over USA for the first time... in 20 years. They feel like they've already accomplished what they needed to accomplish. All Canada really wanted was a different color of medal in these Olympics. They are getting that with Silver or Gold, as opposed to the one they're used to. Sweden will be more hungry in this match. Canada will be happy with this tournament, no matter what the next result is. But Sweden will only be happy with this tournament, if they win GOLD. You can etch it in stone. This match is already over with. Sweden has won the Gold Medal in these Olympics. CONGRATS to Sweden. Well earned. 6 wins and 0 losses.
OMG shush! No, no way, this’ll go the way of ice hockey competitions between us. When it counts, confidence drains and mistakes are made. We already saw the decline today, it will be progressively worse on Friday.
Canada is already happy to be where they are. They won't be nearly as hungry as Sweden in this match. Sweden will be the more talented team, and have more heart in this game. Canada has a lot of heart too, but Sweden will play this game like there's no tomorrow. Canada already knows there is a tomorrow. Their fans will already celebrate their win over USA, and their shiny silver medal. Mission is already accomplished for Canada. Mission not accomplished yet for Sweden. That gives Sweden the extra "edge".
But we are talking about a Swedish team here, built on teamwork and hard work (as all successful Swedish NT since the beginning of time). If they get to confident they may think they can succed without the hard work and that will hurt the teamwork, and if both goes they will come crashing down. The curse of Swedish teams, to much success risk to undermine the foundation of it.
Basically- Swedish sports psychology is very much like the “flats built by hypnosis” in Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
Counterpoint: instead of giving Sweden the "edge", this gives them pressure that Canada doesn't feel, letting the Canucks play more freely and openly.
Another for the things that make you go hmmmm iist: if you asked a Canadian what country was most like Canada the overwhelming responses would be Sweden and Australia.
I'm going to stick with Sweden but Priestman deserves props for getting Canada to the final. If Canada does win, I won't be mad.
Anyone got a clip of Sinclair handing the ball to Fleming? I haven’t seen it; I’ve only read about it.
Actually they didn't just "try" to win games: they won all of the 5 games of the tournament so far! Although I have to admit that when a team reaches a final with such a perfect record, this is an heavy burden: everyone expects them to win the last one too, but it's not as easy as it can seem. And I see someone already started to jinxing them big time: when someone says "Team X already won", if it's your team it's time to pull out all of your charms and amulets, because this is a supreme bad luck spell. Now, let's talk about that: why had they to suddenly change the usual time of the games by switching it with their morning? I am aware that the US fans took the short end of the stick and had to woke up in the middle of the night for the whole tournament, but will I really have to wake up at 4 am here in Europe to watch the final? Ugh!
3 am is different: you can just skip sleeping! 4 am is the magic number when it becomes too much late for that...
At some point Algarve 2019 may pop up so I'll mention it here again so you can say you saw it first at BigSoccer. Algarve 2019 saw what I believe is an interesting bit of soccer trivia. It marked, I believe, the first time between senior teams, either men or women, the use of the tennis tiebreak system (sometimes called ABBA) for the order of taking turns in PKs. Canada and Sweden played in the Bronze Medal game and it went to PKs. Apart from the new system, some interesting things happened. Christine Sinclair had her PK saved by Lindahl.. Eventually one Swedish PK-taker (Larsson I believe) missed her PK (saved by Labbé) but in the 5th round, Sofia Jakobsson made her PK putting the burden on Janine Beckie to make her PK to keep it alive. Beckie did, with a low hard shot to the left post. Later that year at the World Cup, Canada won a penalty against Sweden. With Lindahl's save at Agarve still on her mind, Sinclair didn't take the PK but instead asked Beckie, who made hers under pressure at Algarve, to take it. Beckie again shot low and hard to the left post but Lindahl guess it and saved it. The shootout at Algarve went to the 7th round where Labbé saved Hannah Glas' PK. Who stepped up to win it for Canada? Jessie Fleming. There's still a video of the match on the internet. I'll find it and post it in a few minutes. Here it is. PKs start about 2:53:00 of the video. The referee, who clearly knows what she's doing with the new system, is New Zealand's Anne-Marie Keighley
Not anymore. Did loads of all-nighters back between 1997 and 2003 and yea, 4am was the worst, but now these days, I just can’t stay awake anymore, and it takes about a week to recover every time I try.
Also, I think Canada have the better defense, which might give them the edge. After all, as the cliche goes, defense wins championships.
I feel ya. It's tough gettin' old. FYI Starting time of this match in the United States: 10 pm ET / 7pm PT
You have to think that the assumption in scheduling was that the US would be in the final, and that they would get large numbers in the US to watch on a major channel (the final is the only 1 in the US to be broadcast on NBC). Unfortunately, the USWNT is not, but at least it's at a good time for Canada. I'm sure all the US-based fans would be happy to welcome you to the 4 am club!
Although I occasionally check in here to see what's going on in the soccer world, I haven't posted on BigSoccer in years and didn't expect to ever do so again. After scrolling through the whinge-fest over in the US WNT forum I have to say something. The US-Canada game was not a thing of beauty. There's a bunch of reasons for that but a good part of it is the nature of Olympic tournaments in which teams play every three days with smaller rosters than would be permitted at a FIFA tournament. In this tournament that has been compounded by pretty punishing heat and humidity. Canada and the US were both playing for the fifth time in less than two weeks and both were coming off tough, 120 minute games. It showed. In that kind of circumstance it's about finding a way, not painting a masterpiece. Canada and Sweden will get an extra day's rest before the final, which is good but probably not enough to guarantee that everybody will show up with a spring in their step. It is going to mostly be about Canada's defense versus Sweden's offense. If one team is more fit than the other it's going to matter a lot. I'm Canadian so I'll be cheering on the Reds but there's another reason I want Canada to win. Christine Sinclair is 38. She started her career as a star in a sport with no profile in her native country and she has been the single biggest reason that soccer -both women's and men's- is now a major and growing sport in Canada. Players from other countries have been amazed by the hoards of autograph seekers waiting for her after games, not because there are many but because so many of them are young male fans. For many years she was arguably the best player in women's football but never won a player of the year honour. If she had been American, or German, or Brazilian or Swedish (or any nationality with a professional league) she would have won more than once. As a consummate team player and all-round really great person I'm sure she loses no sleep over that at all. On the other hand, she is at an age where physical change can come fast and the end of her career is not far away. I'm glad that she's going to get another Olympic medal and that it will be at least a silver. It would be great if it could be gold.
I watched the match replay last night on Peacock. Was disappointed that camera seem to cut away as CS12 handed the ball over to Fleming. That penalty was well struck. That was nice to see, given this has been a summer of terrible PKs.