Well here we are the penultimate game in the Women's football tournament at the Olympics and I think it has the potential to be a fantastic game if both teams play for the final medal available and perform better than they did in their group stage encounter which wasn't half as good s it could have been.
The two teams competing for the bronze medal this time around are Australia and the USA so it is a game between two teams with a whole lot of potential and two teams who I honestly thought would have either gone on to win gold or dropped out at the groups.
I really didn't expect to see Australia at this stage of the competition however, they have shown us all just what they are capable of this time around and with the age of most of their players I think other nations should be worried about facing them in the future. They have some big names in the team who are proving their worth at an international level not just club level these days and they are showing just how well they can actually play together. I really did think they would have dropped out in the quarter finals but they had a really good strong game against Team GB and went on to put up a great fight against Sweden in the semi finals too. I just wonder how well they are going to do in the bronze medal match though as they have Ellie Carpenter sitting out this game due to receiving a late red card in the semi finals and Carpenter is a player who has shown a lot of improvement over recent years and has the potential to be one of the greatest players in the world so it does make you wonder if they are going to suffer from losing her for the match or not.
The USA have really surprised me this tournament as it really does feel like they are falling apart in front of our eyes. I really thought they would beat Canada but maybe that early injury played a big part in them losing out on a place in the final but right from the start there is something that just hasn't felt right with them. I don't know if it is due to it being their first major tournament under new management, something going on in the camp or has the amount of send off games simply caught up with the players and they have gone into the tournament with lower fitness levels than previous? The factors could all play a part in their performances but when you look at the quality on the team sheet you expect them to go in and win games but clearly it just isn't happening for them at the moment and something needs to change. I think them not having Naeher for the bronze medal match might play to Australia's advantage but those outfield players really need to step up too and perform how we expect them to. Who knows this match might send them back to their winning ways but only time will tell.
We could definitely be in for a very good game for the bronze medal match and with a key player missing from either side it is going to be interesting to see how the teams perform without them and I think the way that Australia are playing at the moment they could end up causing an upset and taking home the final medal however, maybe the USA have seen the recent loses and fight back and go back to the team we are all used to watching play but this game could go either way and I am looking forward to seeing how it plays out.
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