Canada clinch Olympic gold with a shoot-out win over Sweden

Christine Sinclair finally has her title.

The 38-year-old, long-time captain of the Canadian team has more international goals than any other player, male or female. But a major tournament championship had eluded her.

Until now.

Canada clinched the Olympic gold medal by winning a penalty shoot-out 3-2 against Sweden after a 1-1 draw in yesterday’s final at the Tokyo Games.

It was the first major tournament title for the Canadians, who were the bronze medallists at London in 2012 and at Rio de Janeiro five years ago.

“I mean, it even looks prettier,” Sinclair said, holding up the gold medal.

Canadian goalkeeper Stephanie Labbe stopped Jonna Andersson in the shoot-out to make way for Julia Grosso, a 20-year-old player for the University of Texas, who beat Sweden goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl to win it.

The Canadian players mobbed Grosso on the field, and Sinclair raised her arms in victory before leaping atop her teammates.

“I honestly cannot even believe what just happened,” said Sinclair, who has 187 career goals. “For the last 40 days, we had a goal to come in here and change the colour of the medal and we landed on top of the podium. Just such an honour to be part of this group.”

It was the second consecutive silver medal for the Swedes, who were also aiming for their first title in a major tournament. They lost 2-1 to Germany at Rio in 2016.

Stina Blackstenius gave Sweden the lead in the 34th minute, but Jessie Fleming equalised with a penalty kick in the 67th before the game went to extra time.

STATEMENT-MAKING VICTORY

Sweden had won every match going into the final, opening the tournament with a statement-making 3-0 victory over the United States. Blackstenius had a pair of goals against the Americans.

The Swedes advanced to the gold-medal match with a 1-0 victory over Australia, who finished in fourth place after falling to the United States 4-3 Thursday night in Kashima.

“I am trying to not feel it, wake up from this bad dream,” Sweden’s veteran goalkeeper Lindahl said. “Congratulations to Canada, they defended well. That was our gold to lose.”

Canada coach Bev Priestman had said the target for this Olympics was to change the colour of the medal, which the Canadians were assured of doing after their 1-0 semi-final victory over the United States. It was Canada’s first victory over their North American rivals since 2001.

The final was originally scheduled for 11 a.m. on Friday at the Olympic Stadium, but concerns about the heat – the forecast called for temperatures in the upper 90s at game time – forced organisers to move the game to 9 p.m. at Yokohama International Stadium.

AP