Canada won their second consecutive bronze medal in Olympic play after a 2-1 victory over hosts Brazil at the Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo at the Rio Olympics.
A textbook counter-attack from Canada midway through the first half gave the 2012 bronze medallists the lead before Christine Sinclair gave them an insurance tally with a goal in the 52nd minute. However, Brazil found a way into the match when Beatriz scored in the 79th minute. The nearly 50,000 capacity crowd tried to cheer on the hosts on to victory, but the Canadians did enough to hold onto their lead and win the bronze medal. Canada replicated their performance from the previous Olympics when they finished third after Diane Matheson scored a stoppage-time winner in a 1-0 victory over France.
Teenager gives more dangerous Canadians the halftime lead
The North American side had more dangerous opportunities than the hosts, utilizing speed on the counter attack on several occasions. Sinclair hit the crossbar with a free-kick in the eighth minute after Ashley Lawrence was taken down just outside the penalty area, but her side would find the breakthrough just minutes after.
That breakthrough came in the 25th minute when Lawrence made an impressive 80-yard run from her own penalty box all the way to Brazil's before looking up and picking out Deanne Rose ten yards from the goal line. The forward making no mistake from close range, beating Barbara to give Canada a 1-0 lead, Rose showing her poise at just 17.
Sinclair doubles Canadian lead before Beatriz pulls late goal back, Canada hangs on for win
Sinclair then marked the occasion of her 250th cap with a goal of her own in the 52nd minute. Midfielder Jesse 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 depositing 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. She got one-on-one with Barbara, but her shot hit the Brazilian goalkeeper's right post and went out, Canada nearly with an insurmountable 3-0 lead. Lawrence forced a diving save out of Barbara in the 67th minute, as the hosts were now up against it.
In the 76th minute, Marta flashed a header just wide, nearly cutting Canada's lead in half. Three minutes later, 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 header flicked on by Erika off a Rafaelle throw-in. Beatriz then took a touch, turned her defender before shooting past Canadian goalkeeper Christine Sinclair with her left foot, the hosts cutting their deficit in half.
The match proved to be a frustrating one in the end for Brazil 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, this one hurting more than the previous two.