The Americans won Olympic gold for the fifth time on Saturday by beating Brazil for the third time in the final (1-0) of the legend Marta, who played her last match with her selection on Saturday at the Parc des Princes. While Spain had dominated women's football for two years, the Americans regained power thanks to their attacking trio Rodman-Smith-Swanson.
They now hold the absolute record for Olympic titles with 5 gold medals (1996, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2024), not counting the four World Cups (1991, 1999, 2015, 2019).
Under the eyes of the American star, now retired, Megan Rapinoe, the players of Emma Hayes, who arrived less than two months ago at the head of Team USA, completely washed away the affront of elimination in Round of 16 of the World Cup last summer. And as since the start of the tournament, they relied on their trident, as effective as ever.
Launched perfectly by captain Lindsey Horan, Mallory Swanson adjusted Brazilian goalkeeper Lorena, bulwark of the Selecao (1-0, 57th), with a flat foot to score her 4th goal of the Games. She is the second top scorer in the tournament behind Frenchwoman Marie-Antoinette Katoto.
Manhandled until then by the aggressiveness and counterplay of the Brazilians, they managed to turn the match around, carried by the “USA, USA”, chanted in the stands of the Parc des Princes, to a sold-out crowd.
The last of Marta
In the first period, they struggled to appear truly dangerous, unlike the Seleçao, who had a goal denied for offside - by one foot - from Ludmila (15th). From the start of the match, Arthur Elias' players showed intensity and speed, as they have done since the start of the tournament. But unlike the quarter-final against France (1-0) and especially the semi-final against the Spanish, reigning world champions (4-2), they missed too much in front of the opposing goal.
And upon returning from the locker room, the American machine really got going, combining more, more technically accurate. “We just needed a year of learning, of progression, and we are back, I hope, at the top,” predicted Sophia Smith, 23, scorer in overtime against Germany in the semi-final but awkward on Saturday. Just before, the third sidekick of the attack, Trinity Rodman, daughter of the famous basketball player Dennis Rodman, had missed the break goal (64th).
It took a year for Team USA and two months for Emma Hayes, the historic former coach of Chelsea, to get everything back on track thanks to a once again united group and without star Alex Morgan, 35, who was not called up.
“I thank my father (editor's note: deceased), he is the one who pushed me to come here and coach an incredible group of players, who welcomed me so well and who accepted everything I asked of them “, reacted the coach to the broadcaster Eurosport, saying she was in “a state of shock” and thanking her players, “extraordinary people and models, I love them”.
They were solid in the defensive duels when the Auriverde accelerated again and gave it their all at the end of the match. In the wake of Marta and her off-target free kick (89th) or Adriana's header (90 + 3), they failed to beat Alyssa Naeher, 36 years old.
The last match of “queen” Marta thus ended with a third defeat in the final of the Olympic Games, and she left her selection at 38, without a crown.
The sporting revenge has set the course of events in the basketball of these Olympic Games. The first involved in this story are the teams of the United States and Serbia, who competed in the final of this discipline in Rio 2016, also with LeBron James and Nikola Jokic as the great stars of their respective teams.
Eight years later, they met again to play for a place in the final, and the Americans once again ended the dreams of the Serbians (95-91) in an unexpected turn of events because Jokic's team dominated the ball for the longest time, but ended up giving in to the finishing strategy and physical resistance of his rivals, among whom were several of his NBA colleagues.
The so-called Dream Team will now compete for his fifth consecutive Olympic gold.
After losing a good part of the game, with a disadvantage of 76-63, the United States' chances were quickly diluted, but LeBron James and Stephen Curry came to the rescue of their team by taking possession of the ball and with a comeback that caused delirium among the fans.
The second in revenge were the teams from France and Germany, who have experienced an epic duel in these Olympic Games. The former reached the semifinals after beating Canada 82-73, driven by the young star Victor Wembanyama, but before that they had suffered a painful defeat against the Germans on the last date of the group stage, 85-71.
Both teams gave their all in a match that was very even almost the entire time, but the French ended up getting even 73-69.
In this way, the final that basketball fans have been waiting for has taken place between a French team, grown by its young superstar and being local, and a powerful American team that aspires to go home with the gold medal.
Where and when will the basketball final be at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games? The final will be played on Saturday, August 10 at the Accor Arena in Paris.
