6th August, 2021
By Abankula
Canadian women have won the Tokyo Olympic gold in football, beating Sweden in penalties 3-2.
Both teams played 1-1 draw at full time, with the game decided with penalties.
The Canadians will have their keeper, Stephanie Labbe to thank for saving several penalties after misses by the two sides.
After each team had played five penalties and the score line at 2-2, it was left for Labbe again to step and play the heroine.
She saved again in the sudden death leaving Julia Grosso the chance to win the game for Canada.
She didn’t miss the opportunity.
This is the first Olympic soccer gold for the Canadian women.
In Rio and London Olympics, they won the bronze.
In Tokyo, they defeated the U.S. in the semifinals to make it to the gold medal match.
For Sweden, Tokyo had not proven to be an improvement over their performance in Rio 2016, where they also won a silver.
Sweden dominated the match in the first half, with a goal scored in the 34th minute by Stina Blackstenius.
In the second half, a Swedish player fouled Canadian captain Christine Sinclair, resulting in a penalty kick for Canada.
Jessie Fleming was successful, and tied the game at 67 minutes to eventually force penalty shootout.