Coming into the Tokyo Olympics 2020, the USA women’s football team arrived as gold medal favorites. With international superstars like Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan and Carli Lloyd, one found it very hard to bet against the Americans.
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However, they suffered one of their most shocking defeats in the semifinals of the tournament earlier today. Despite dominating the game, USA lost to Canada in a semifinal which finished with the scoreline 1-0.
Canada shock USA in the semifinals of the Tokyo Olympics
In the 2016 Rio Olympics, Sweden eliminated the USA on penalties in the quarterfinal stage of the tournament. That marked the first time since the inception of women’s football at the Games where USA did not feature in the gold medal match.
However, Canada ensured that unwanted piece of history would repeat itself in the Tokyo Olympics. Despite having just three shots on goal, Jessie Fleming made history by converting a penalty in the 74th minute. The Canadians did an excellent job to keep that lead in the last 16 minutes, which sent them to the gold medal match.
With this result, USA once again missed out on the gold medal match at the games. While fans watched the game live, many of them took to Twitter to share their reactions with the world. Here are some of the most riveting reactions to this stunning result on Twitter.
Not the result we wanted but not done yet. Still a medal to play for on Thursday 🇺🇸
The #USWNT playing Sweden for bronze would be a bitterly brilliant plot twist. Just sayin’
https://twitter.com/aszmortha/status/1422135259605307394?s=20
🇨🇦REDEMPTION ACHIEVED🇨🇦 The last time #CANWNT defeated #USWNT was March 11, 2001 at the Algarve Cup. 7,441 days later, the Canadian Women are VICTORIOUS against the USA on the international stage and are off to the Olympic Gold Medal Game. Medal. Colour. Changed. #Tokyo2020
Another unforgiving 4 am wake up …last game finally felt like a change of pace but this one reverted back to how they looked at the start of the tournament and fell flat #uswnt
Megan Rapinoe got choked up when asked about a moment she & Carli Lloyd shared after the loss to Canada in (likely) their last Olympics. Meanwhile Carli is running suicides in the background the entire interview. @CarliLloyd is a warrior & an inspiration. #USWNT #Tokyo2020 #USA
Us: definitely not getting up for no 4AM Bronze Medal game Also us: #USWNT
Carli Lloyd, it will surprise literally none of you, is doing wind sprints alone.
At the time of this negligible penalty (in the 72nd minute) Canada had only managed one shot (and it wasn’t on goal). The #USWNT finished with 17 shots (and 36 crosses) and couldn’t score. Soccer is a cruel sport some times.
🤨 ¿HABÍA PENAL? 🖥 El VAR entró en acción para checar si hubo o no contacto de @roselavelle 😱 La árbitro marcó penal para @CanadaSoccerEN #OlimpicosTelemundo
Everyone else: “Well looks like #USWNT is gonna go for Go…” 🇨🇦: “THE HELL YOU WILL…” Congrats to @CanadaSoccerEN on advancing. #Olympics #Canada
Last comment on this game- you fans need to stop blaming one or two players. It’s a whole team thing which is why the whole team isn’t playing well. Rapinoe just literally said that and she’s not lying #USWNT
Thank you Canada! 🇨🇦 ⚽️#USWNT #OlympicGames
#CanWNT and soccer GOAT @sincy12 will play for gold 🇨🇦 They defeat the #USWNT for the first time in 20 years, a 1-0 semifinal victory on a PK goal by Jessie Fleming buff.ly/3llIx6l
https://twitter.com/AlwaysLou_Sky/status/1422135406359896064?s=20
Even tho the #USWNT seems to feel like a machine at times, it’s important to remember they’re human. 4x Olympic champs, 4x World Cup champs. An incredible run that hit a hiccup and can surely come hack better than ever in the next one!
OMG #USWNT is out of the Olympics. Best news ever 💃
The #USWNT playing Sweden for bronze would be a bitterly brilliant plot twist. Just sayin’
Very proud of every @USWNT player and staff member. Sometimes it doesn’t go our way but everyone gave it their all. Zero need for all the silly online comments. Support is vital! Congratulations to Canada and good luck!! #USWNT #Tokyo2020
FINAL | Canada’s penalty proves to be the difference. The USA will play for bronze on Thursday
We’ll get em in 2023!! #USWNT
Canadians rolling into the office this morning. #USWNT
READ MORE: Embarrassing Error by Sprinter Costs Her Medal Opportunity at Tokyo Olympics 2020
USA will play for bronze on August 5
While the Americans suffered a shock defeat in the semifinals, their tournament isn’t over just yet. They will compete for a bronze medal on August 5 in the Ibaraki Kashima Stadium. Despite missing out on gold, a victory this Thursday would mark an improvement on their previous result in Rio.
Reuters
Tokyo 2020 Olympics – Soccer Football – Women – Semifinal – United States v Canada – Ibaraki Kashima Stadium, Ibaraki, Japan – August 2, 2021. United States players after the match REUTERS/Mike Segar
They will take on Australia at 5:30pm local time. However, Canada stole the show today by securing their first ever appearance in the gold medal match at the Games. They will take on Sweden on August 6 at 11:00am local time in the Olympic stadium.
WATCH STORY: US Women Football Team?s Dominance at Summer Olympics