The gold medal dream is over for Team USA in women's soccer at the Tokyo Olympics after the Americans suffered a shock defeat to Canada in the semifinals. However, Team USA's women's basketball still has a shot at gold after going undefeated in the preliminary round of the competition.
For the second Summer Games running, the United States women's national team won't win gold in the soccer competition. Team USA's campaign ended disappointingly after losing to Canada, 1-0, in the semifinals of the women's soccer event at the Tokyo Olympics.
Fleming hands Team USA shock defeat with penalty strike
Jessie Fleming broke Americans' hearts with a late penalty in the 75th minute to hand Canada the upset victory. Canada finally got the better of the United States after losing to them at this same stage nine years ago in the London Olympics. It has been 20 long years since Canada last defeated Team USA in a women's soccer match.
That all changed on Monday as Fleming gave Canada its first win over the USA since recording a 3-0 victory on March 11, 2001, at the Algarve Cup. To further explain the gravity of Canada's victory, their semifinal win snapped the Americans' 37-match unbeaten run against them.
The game's turning point happened when American defender Tierna Davidson brought down Deanne Rose inside the box. VAR confirmed the foul, with Fleming converting the ensuing penalty. Team USA's Adrianna Franch guessed the right way, but Fleming's spot kick was just beyond her reach as she scored the game's only goal.
Franch was the one in action for USWNT at that point as starting goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher injured her knee during the first half. That injury added to the tension of the game, with neither side creating clear-cut goal-scoring chances in the contest.
The Americans tried to change that at the hour mark with double Olympic champions Carli Lloyd and Megan Rapinoe. They immediately gave Team USA a spark, with Canadian goalkeeper Stephanie Labbe making a pair of crucial saves to Lloyd and Julie Ertz's efforts.
Fleming's penalty, however, sucked the life out of the Americans, who will now have to settle for the bronze medal match. They will face Australia in that match after the Matildas lost to Sweden in the other semifinal.
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Team USA extends winning streak to 52 games in Olympics women's basketball
Team USA stretched its unbeaten run in the women's basketball event in the Olympics to 52 matches with a 93-82 victory over France on Monday. Leading the Americans in this victory were A'ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart, who scored 22 and 17 points, respectively.
Team USA had trouble putting away its opponents for the third game running, with France even taking a 22-19 lead after the first quarter. Team USA buckled down to work in the second quarter, finishing the opening half with a 7-0 run to enter the break with a 50-44 lead.
France kept things interesting in the fourth quarter, taking a 72-71 lead at one stage. The Americans, however, responded with yet another 7-0 blast that all but ended France's resistance.
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