Canada won their second consecutive bronze medal at the Women's Olympic Football Tournament after a 2-1 victory over hosts Brazil at the Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo at Rio 2016.
A textbook counter-attack from Canada midway through the first half gave the 2012 bronze medallists the lead before Christine Sinclair gave them more security with a goal in the 52nd minute. However, Brazil climbed back into the match when Beatriz scored in the 79th minute. The nearly 50,000 capacity crowd tried to cheer the hosts on to victory, but the Canadians did enough to hold on to their lead and win the bronze medal.
Canada repeated their London 2012 performance when they finished with the bronze medal after Diane Matheson scored a stoppage-time winner in a 1-0 victory over France.
The North American side had more dangerous opportunities than the hosts, utilising speed on the counter attack on several occasions. Sinclair hit the crossbar with a free-kick early in the match, but her side would find the breakthrough just minutes after.
Canada's opener came in the 25th minute when Ashley Lawrence made an impressive 80-yard run from her own penalty area all the way to Brazil's before looking up to find Deanne Rose ten yards from the goal-line. The 17-year-old forward from Scarborough United made no mistake from close range.
Sinclair then marked the occasion of her 250th cap with a goal of her own in the 52nd minute. Midfielder Jessie Fleming applied pressure on Brazil's backline before stealing the ball, dribbling past two defenders and sending Rose through on the right wing with a precise pass. Rose then looked up to cut back a pass to Sinclair who was 12 yards from goal. Sinclair took a touch before dispatching a shot into the bottom right corner to double Canada's lead.
Rose almost scored her second of the match six minutes later when she ran onto a flicked header by Melissa Tancredi. Rose got one-on-one with Barbara, but her shot hit the Brazilian goalkeeper's right post and went out.
In the 79th minute, Beatriz scored Brazil's first goal in open play since her goal in the 86th minute against Sweden in their second group stage match. The forward received the ball with her back to goal from a flicked-on header from Erika off a Rafaelle throw-in. Beatriz then took a touch, turned her defender before shooting past Labbe with her left foot.
The match proved to be a frustrating one in the end for Brazil, playing in front of a full Arena Corinthians, and Canada were able to see out the late pressure from the hosts and hold on to their lead to win bronze.
Canada claimed their second bronze medal at the Women's Olympic Football Tournament, while Brazil finished fourth for the third time (Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000) in the competition.