Sweden just keeps on rolling, one “cowardly” performance after another.
Pia Sundhage parked the bus again against Brazil, and it worked again, hanging on for dear life to preserve a 0-0 draw, and a win 4-3 win in penalties pushed them into the gold medal match. The hosts held 67% of possession and ripped a whopping 32 efforts at goal, but could put just nine of those on target against the defensively stout Swedes.
Andressinha missed the decisive penalty for Brazil in the final round of kicks, handing Lisa Dahlkvist with a chance to win it, which she did by burying hers. The penalty round in general was sloppy, with multiple saveable kicks. Cristiane saw her kick saved to start things off, which was cancelled out when Barbara saved on a kick from Kosovare Asllani.
Through regulation, Brazil looked to target the Swedish defense with a host of crosses looking to bag a header, with the best chance falling to Beatriz late on, but she headed it straight at goalkeeper Hedvig Lindhal.
On the other side, Germany eased past Canada 2-0 thanks to a thumping penalty by Melanie Behringer in the 21st minute and a second on the hour mark from young Sara Dabritz. Canada maintained the majority of possession throughout the game, but rarely threatened on goal, managing just four shots, two on target.
The penalty was given when Kadeisha Buchanon ripped down Alexandra Popp, earning a yellow card for the tackle. Behringer hammered home the resulting kick, expertly smashing it into the top left corner. Dabritz doubled the score in the 60th minute, with Anja Mittag feeding her on a breakaway and the 21-year-old cut past a defender and rifled her finish inside the near post.
Germany and Sweden meet for the gold medal match Friday at 4:30pm E.T. Brazil and Canada will play for the bronze medal on Friday as well, with a noon E.T. kick.