Germany’s Golden Girls: Rio 2016 Olympic Review

Germany won Olympic gold in Silvia Neid’s final match in charge, beating Sweden two-one at the Maracana on 19 August and making Neid the first coach to have won the World Cup, the European Championship twice and now the Olympics. She called it a new summit for German women’s football and paid tribute to her players. Pia Sundhage, denied a third successive gold, insisted Sweden won the silver rather than losing the gold, having eliminated the world champions and the hosts on penalties. Hedvig Lindahl’s shoot-out heroics beat Brazil before around 70,000 at the Maracana. Canada took a second successive bronze on Christine Sinclair’s 250th cap, and Brazil’s Marta finally received the recognition the report argues she deserved.