Olympic football concluded today with a huge upset, as Mexico shocked Brazil to capture the gold and their first Olympic medal. Watch out, world. CONCACAF is comin’ to get ya! Now that the Olympics are over, what am I going to write about? For now at least I’m still in Olympic mode and dug up a few of the top headlines from the women’s and men’s tournaments, but we’ll get back to some MLS headlines this week as well.
Olympics 2012
Mexico defeated Brazil 2-0 in the gold medal match for their first-ever Olympic medal behind 1′ and 75′ goals from Oribe Peralta. Brazil came in as the favorite to win their first gold, but weren’t able to put a ball in the net until the 92nd minute, when they were already in a 2-goal hole.
SI’s Grant Wahl offers three thoughts on the match, including what it means for the future of Mexican soccer, as well as what’s in store for Brazil after failing, yet again, to bring home the gold.
FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year, Homare Sawa of Japan, announced today that she will retire from international soccer. Sawa, 33, finished her distinguished career with a silver medal in London, after leading Japan to the World Cup title last summer.
“I’ve achieved what I can and have no regrets,” Sawa told Japan’s Nikkan Sports daily following Thursday’s 2-1 defeat by the United States in the gold medal match in London.
“I always wanted an Olympic gold medal but I’ve given everything. This is the end,” added Sawa, who played in five World Cups and scored 81 goals in 186 appearances for Japan.
BBC Sport has put together an all-Olympic women’s football team. Shockingly, it’s very USWNT-heavy.
Carli Lloyd made a huge statement in the tournament to prove her doubters wrong, but NBC’s Jeff Kassouf argues that Lloyd’s work is “more than just weeks in the making.”
Missing the USA girls already? You won’t need to wait long to see them again. Two matches on their post-Olympics “victory tour” have been announced for September, against Costa Rica in Rochester, NY and Australia in Carson, Calif. C’mon, we want a USA-Canada rematch, don’t we?
Major League Soccer
The Red Bulls are back on top of the East, with a payback 2-0 win against the Dynamo, but Thierry Henry is not satisfied. The RBNY captain admitted that “in terms of team they’re ahead of us.”
Thirty-five MLS players will be on international team duty next week, with Jamaica, Honduras and Canada dominating the assignments. The U.S. roster will be released tomorrow.
Jay DeMerit and Alain Rochat show off how they re-create their on-the-field moves for EA’s FIFA 13, but it’s not all serious work. DeMerit throws in an interpretation of Mario Balotelli’s antics, because c’mon, who doesn’t love making fun of Balotelli?
