The United States team, a priori favorite to win gold in women’s football at the Olympic Games, beat New Zealand 1-6, retaliating for the defeat in the debut (3-0) against Sweden that certified its presence in the quarterfinals of the tournament, same as Great Britain.
The Swedes suffered against Australia despite the result (4-2), since the sentence came already in the 82nd minute with their rival overturned. 13 earlier, Samantha Kerr, a Chelsea footballer, missed a penalty that would have meant her treble and the momentary 3-3.
In the same group, G, the United States easily overcame New Zealand with a bulky 1-6 that began to get back on track with a goal from Rose Lavelle in the 9th minute. Lindsey Horan, Christen Press, Alex Morgan and two own goals from the New Zealanders completed the triumph of the North Americans.
For its part, after beating Chile 2-0, Great Britain did the same by the minimum against the host, Japan, and commands with six points and with the pass to the quarterfinals in the pocket a Group E that has Canada second with four points after beating the South American Red 1-2, which only has to aspire to be one of the best third in its first participation in women’s football at an Olympic event.
The other group, the F, lived a very different day in their two games. First a 4-4 in the China-Zambia, in which the Africans managed to overcome with a 3-1 down on the scoreboard thanks to a hat-trick by Barba Branda, the second in the tournament that makes him the maximum scorer with six goals.
In the scorers’ duel, Shuan Wang’s midfielder won the game with four goals.
The other clash also ended with many goals (3-3) between two teams like the Netherlands and Brazil, candidates to fight for the maximum. The draw is less known to the Dutch because the South American team could win the first place if they beat Zambia on the last day by more than four goals, something that does not seem difficult seeing the 3-10 that their rivals endorsed this Saturday . EFE