Rio 2016: Brazil´s Barbara defends Sweden after ´cowards´ comment

Able to advance to the knockout round only as the third-place team in its group, and beaten 5-1 by Brazil in the process, Sweden now plays for the gold medal and its first major tournament title in women’s soccer Friday against the victor of the second semifinal between Germany and Canada.

On Tuesday, the final four teams in the Olympic women’s soccer tournament took to the pitch to determine who would go on to the gold medal match this Friday, August 19th.

The match went into penalties after the sides were goalless following extra time on Tuesday.

And she was under fire in the Rio heat as early Brazilian attacks peppered the Sweden goal.

A heart-stopping 7-6 penalty shootout win over Australia left five-time World Player of the Year Marta in tears of relief after her missed spot-kick looked to have sealed Brazil’s fate.

The first game kicked off at 12:00pm, as Brazil faced Sweden.

Brazil will still play for the bronze medal against Canada on Friday in Sao Paulo with a chance to salvage the tournament in a smaller way than Marta and her teammates had hoped.

The crowd chanted Marta’s name throughout the game and her runs from the right wing towards the goal caused Sweden a lot of trouble.

Brazil almost won the game in the 90th minute on a free kick.

Sweden’s style of play is one that American goalkeeper Hope Solo criticized sharply. She found stern opposition in the Swedes, who possessed a strong defense and a tight midfield, Stina Blackstenius or Lotta Schlein taking turns up front as the lone striker in the opening period. Plus, they’re coming off of a huge 2-0 victory over Colombia, the team that knocked Neymar out of the 2014 World Cup with a broken back bone and resulted in a crushing loss for Brazil in the semifinals.

Lydia Ko of New Zealand, Brooke Henderson of Canada and the top nine women in the world tee up Wednesday at the Olympic Golf Course, the first time women are playing golf in the Olympics since 1900.

Even with her skills, major success has eluded the Brazilian women’s team.

“I can’t fault this group, they have been outstanding”, Canada coach John Herdman said.

Brazil has won silver twice (2004, 2008) and finished in fourth twice (1996, 2000), while Sweden’s best finish had been fourth (2004).

Cristiane, the Olympics’ all-time top scorer, and Andressa saw spot-kicks saved by Hedvig Lindahl after neither side could score a goal in 120 minutes. Marta had both goals for Brazil, including a controversial penalty kick, but Solo was able to stop Daiane in the shootout.

After all, it doesn’t actually make any sense to insult a team that beats you.