The game was the last chance for Brazilian great Marta to earn a medal, as she announced she would retire from international play after the Paris Games.
PARIS, France — The U.S. women’s soccer team are Olympic gold champions once again after beating Brazil 1-0 in the gold medal match Saturday.
The Americans, undefeated in France under new coach Emma Hayes, have secured their fifth gold medal out of six appearances in the Olympic women’s soccer final.
The U.S. Women’s National Team has missed out on the finals at the last two Olympic tournaments, eliminated in the quarterfinals in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and relegated to the bronze-medal match at the Tokyo Games three years ago.
The match against Brazil opened relatively slowly, with neither side managing to score in the first half. But just under 57 minutes into the game, Team USA’s Mallory Swanson was able to plant a kick into the goal, putting the U.S. ahead and knocking Brazil into an unfavorable position to work their way back from.
The game lasted for 102 minutes, with 12 minutes of extra time added to the 90-minute clock. The extra time added tension in the last few minutes of the game, as an exhausted U.S. team nearly allowed several goals as Brazil rallied to control the ball for most of the extra time.
But even that wasn’t enough for Brazil to break through Team USA’s defense, ending the game without the South American team scoring a goal.
The defeat crushed the last chance for Brazilian great Marta to her international career with a gold medal. She has said her sixth Olympics will be her last major tournament with the national team.
The teams have faced each other twice before in Olympic gold-medal games. The U.S. won both times — 2-1 in Athens in 2004 and 1-0 at the 2008 Beijing Games.