The US will play Brazil in the gold medal match on this Saturday, August 10. The game will be at 11 am ET (5 pm local time) in Paris at Parc des Princes. It will be shown on USA Network, Telemundo, and Peacock. This will be the third time that the US and Brazil have played each other in an Olympic final (the US won both previous finals in 2004 and 2008). They have played each other a total of 5 times previously in the Olympics, which also includes 2 group stage matches and a semifinal in 2000. However, they have not met at the Olympics since the 2008 final. Their most recent meeting was in the W Gold Cup final this year (a 1-0 US win). Previous to that, the US also beat Brazil in the 2023 SheBelieves Cup, 2-1. I should also add that while Brazil had some difficulties in the group stage, and only got to the knockout rounds by being the 2nd best 3rd place team (literally the last team in to the quarterfinals), they've since defeated France and Spain, two of the favorites in the tournament and haven't needed to go to ET in either match. Facing Brazil in the final also means that piece of trivia from earlier holds up: the US has repeated their knockout round opponents from 2004, when the US beat Japan in the quarterfinal, beat Germany in the semifinal, and then won gold by beating Brazil.
Also since it's now relevant, back to an earlier question of mine: does anyone know if alternates who never appear on a game-day roster get a medal or not? In pre-2020 Olympics rules, they would not. In the 2020 Olympics, it was basically a roster of 22 without alternates but an 18-player game day roster, and they all received medals. My guess is they don't since alternates have to be "activated" to game-day rosters only in the case of an injury, but that really sucks for Hershfelt and Campbell if they end up being the only two who don't get one.
I'm pretty sure that the alternates just need to make a gameday roster, not necessarily play in a match, to get a medal. At least that's what I've been reading on other forums.
I'm pretty sure you're right about that, but I was asking about the alternates who never appear on a game-day roster, specifically Hershfelt and Campbell. I'm guessing they don't.
No, they wouldn't, unfortunately. Blame the cheap IOC, who is trying to save a few $$ of their billions in revenues.
Sadly my ability to watch this final live is in question. Turns out it's my wedding anniversary and we're planning midday activities in NYC. I'm still thinking of trying to make it all work, but it would be tight, and require approval/acceptance from my wife who, let's just say, has a bit of disdain for the amount of energy I devote to the footy teams I support. OTOH she is in fact an American, who does watch the Olympics in general... so I guess there's a little chance that she'd like to the "festivities" by watching a USA team contest a gold medal final??
Unlike my situation: Me: It's our anniversary, shall we go out and do something to celebrate? Wife: Well, what time is the game?
It's Tess Olofsson (Sweden) with the whistle for the Gold Medal match (from Law5 Referee Blogspot and cross-posted in the International Forum): 10 August Gold/Silver Medals BRAZIL - USA Referee: Tess Olofsson SWE Assistant Referee 1: Almira Spahic SWE Assistant Referee 2: Francesca Di Monte ITA Fourth Official: Rebecca Welch ENG Reserve Assistant Referee: Franca Overtoom NED Video Assistant Referee: Ivan Bebek CRO Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Carlos Del Cerro Grande ESP Support Video Assistant Referee: Jerome Brisard FRA
I mean, she's not horrible; there are worse options, but I think she allows too much physical play, at times, without a whistle or card. I have a feeling the Brazilians will take advantage of that fact. Generally, the US doesn't play a very physical game, so it works against the US. However, if the US presses early and often, I think they can get an early goal and put pressure on Brazil. The one thing I feel confident about is that Brazil will not sit back and defend: they're going for goals. An open, offensive game will work in US' favor.
I repped the statement, and I have nothing against Olofsson. She's perfectly fine, just not as great as the assignments she's been getting would suggest that she is, imo. I think I would have preferred the 4th Welch over Olofsson, but Welch isn't rated as highly. But in this case, Olofsson, as the more rated UEFA referee here at this tournament, was probably written in to the final, whether it was a non-UEFA final like this one or a full-UEFA final. If I were to guess, I think Olofsson was held from the semis for the final, and the only way they were going to shuffle things may have been if only one of the teams was from UEFA.
I might be making progress. I pitched the idea of visiting her (very old) parents in the morning, watching the game there (with them if they like) and then spend the rest of the day doing anniversary things as a twosome. And it wasn't dismissed out of hand, so there's hope for me and this game.
Why does Sweden always have to be involved in a final game with the USWNT... >mutters< Edit: Wonder how she is with calling rough play. Hermosa, the Captain of the Spanish Team, came out today and criticized the Brazilian Team's aggressive fouling play.
IDK. The last ref let go a lot of physical play and niggly fouls by Germany. And we seemed to do OK. And generally speaking, if you're comparing the extreme polar styles a ref can take, I prefer one who lets the game play rather than one who's constantly blowing their whistle for every little thing.
The match has been moved from USA Network to NBC. It will still be on both Telemundo and Peacock. Breaking #USWNT news: NBC has moved Saturday's gold medal game up to big NBC.It had been set for USA Network.#Paris2024 #Olympics #football— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) August 8, 2024
Which is the time slot they had set aside for the men's marathon. Which is already loaded into Dish Network's schedule. Which means there is no way to set the game to record, unless they change their file label sometime beforehand, which they have been erratic about doing. Whomever is controlling this for NBC loves team handball and hates women's soccer; just about everything has been aired-- but almost none of it in the scheduled slots. And whatever recording or live event you choose to watch comes in with team handball, water polo, or volleyball near ever' time.
THANK YOU for that heads up! I'd [previously set my DVR to record it (on USA) just in case. Can we assume that NBC will stick with USWNT as long as it takes, even into ET and PK's if necessary? Previously they had the Men's Marathon showing on NBC at 1pm ET. Presumably they'll move that to USA??
TJ - we are old-school Dish Network brothers. Now I would never be confused as a technological Einstein but what is stopping you from setting the DVR to record the Men's Marathon time slot (NBC, 11 ET) tomorrow and you get the WNT Match substituted in its place? You mentioned something about a file label which went over my head. I'm much better at pre-match Hydration advice.
That's a good idea. And remember to add +1 hr, or record the 1pm slot show whatever your guide has for that. Also,some DVR's allow you to set a "manual recording" of a certain channel & timeframe, regardless of what the guide says. That's what I'm gonna do.
The men's marathon is tape-delayed anyway, but yes, it looks like it's on USA Network. The slot for the game is 2 hours exactly, and is followed by track and field finals, so I don't know if they'll be able to stick with the game if it goes to PK's or send it to another channel (might depend on what events are coming up first in track and field, tbh). More info with full broadcast schedules is here: https://www.nbcsports.com/pressbox/...-paris-tonight-at-8-p-m-et-on-nbc-and-peacock
That would suck if they were to move ET* to another cable channel. Presumably they moved USWNT to main NBC because that's the most widely available channel to the population. If they were to force people to switch to USA or more obscure channels like CNBC or E! to complete watching this *GOLD MEDAL* match, that would be very user-unfriendly and a big fail in my book. *p.s. This should all be moot since our gals will finish this in regulation! p.p.s. I've now set my DVR to record both NBC & USA from 10:45am to 2:45 ET... just in case.