Beating Brazil in the final of Beijing 2008, The United States picked up their third gold medal in four tries at the Women's Olympic Football Tournament.
It was a close-run thing. Women's football heavyweights,
USA, looked out for the count on more than one occasion, but coach
April Heinrich's experienced team came back off the ropes to
beat Brazil 2-1 after extra time and add a second Olympic title to
the gold medal won at the 1996 Games in Atlanta.
One feature stood out at the Women's Football Tournament
at the Sydney Olympics of 2000 and that was the admirable fair play
shown by all the teams. Eight sides played a total of sixteen
games, and not one red card was shown during the whole event. The
Olympic spirit was certainly alive and kicking in Australia.
Since there was no time to hold a qualifying tournament, the
eight best teams at the Women's World Cup in 1995 were
automatically selected for the Olympic tournament (which meant no
teams from Africa or Oceania could take part in this tournament).
