2008 Beijing Summer Olympics | iHaveNet

The United States defeated Brazil by a score of 1 - 0 in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics women's soccer final.

The only goal of the match coming in the sixth minute of extra time (96') from Carli Lloyd. Lloyd blasted a left-footed shot from outside the box that caught the lower left-hand corner of the goal.

Lloyd put herself in position for the winning shot on overlapping run on Amy Rodriguez's possession. Rodriguez deftly back heeled the ball to the overlapping Lloyd who one-touched the ball before unleashing her shot.

The U.S. women shut out the Brazilians with a near-flawless performance on defense.

Olympic team captain Christine Rampone felt her team won gold because they stuck together and their defense frustrated Brazil throughout the finals match.

The victory by the US women's team was their third gold medal (1996, 2004, 2008) in the Olympics and fourth consecutive Olympic finals appearance (2000 silver medalists). The United States has now defeated Brazil in back-to-back Women's Soccer Olympic Finals. At the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics the American Women's team defeated Brazil 2 -1 for the gold.

The US Women's soccer victory also marked the 1,000th gold medal for the United States in the history of the Olympics competition. The defending Olympic champions staged a courageous performance to claim Olympic gold against Brazil in the women's football tournament. Team captain Christie Rampone and goalkeeper Hope Solo talk about the milestone

Christine Rampone added that Brazil "came with everything they had. . . . Their speed, their spark and their personality." However, the Americans "stuck together" and "defensively frustrated" Brazil. For the American team captain, that combination "made it our game and it showed."

Kathryn Markgraf added:

"I think every game is different. We have a lot of respect for Brazil but we believe in ourselves a lot. So, regardless of the number of chances they got, when we stopped them or the missed a shot they got a little bit more frustrated and that meant that there was a little bit more of a window that we could attack them."

Aly Wagner on the Olympic finals and Brazil. Going into the Women's Soccer Olympic Finals, Aly felt that "anybody could come out as the winner" which at the same time "is respecting your opponent" and still "believing in yourself." For her, "the game could go either way" and the US team was well aware of the quality side Brazil has assembled. However, the US Women's soccer team "trained all year long. We have trained years to put it together for the Olympic final and we believed regardless of what anybody else said we knew we could do it."

For Kathryn Markgraf, it meant the culmination and reward for "32 years of hard work" and "18 players playing as one to beat Brazil in the final."

Summer Olympics - USA Olympic Soccer Women's Team Captain Christine Rampone on Defeating Brazil for Gold

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