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Olympics Soccer News: USWNT win back the Women’s Olympic Gold thanks to Mallory Swanson one & only winning goal over Brazil in Emma Hayes’s first title as their new coach 

by Sports Benches

Here’s another Olympic Soccer moment in the women’s gold medal match from overnight at Parc Des Princes in Paris and the USA women’s national soccer team aka USWNT has won back the gold medal over Brazil 1-0 since the London 2012 edition. It’s the fifth time they’ve done it that goes back to Atlanta 1996, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012 and now Paris 2024. What’s next now is for USWNT to win back the World Cup in 2027 where they’ve made a big name for themselves over the last two decades with four World Cup titles that goes back to 1999 on home soil over China at Rose Bowl in California.

It was quiet first half run where both teams ended up scoreless without the net. But fortunately, striker Mallory Swanson (nee Pugh) scored the one and only gold medal winning goal in the 57th minute for USWNT, as the US side defended so well including a valiant display from the keeper Alyssa Naeher towards the very end after a long 100 mins of play across two halves.

It’s Emma Hayes’s first major honour as their new head coach since the summer following a long decorated stint with the Chelsea ladies team in the WSL, which is the women’s equivalent of the men’s Premier League competition. Yes, there was doubt about a few experienced players being left out but time must go on to rejuvenate this USWNT squad with a few new youngsters coming in and it’s so far, so good with still a long way to go.

And heartbreak to Brazil with another silver medal yet again for the third time in women’s Olympic soccer history. They weren’t bad for a start in defense to keep the USWNT quiet at times, Brazil just couldn’t grasp the best out of their attacking play where things were so unlucky at times. But then time ran out against them and there’s nothing Brazil can do about it as they too also came from a long way to get where they want to be, having last done that back in Athens 2004,

Don’t forget they haven’t played in an Women’s World Cup Final since China 2007 over a 2-0 loss to Germany and with a home World Cup around the corner in 2027, it’s going to be a big opportunity for them to finally go one better when the Brazil women’s soccer team always fell short despite their early group stage and knockout success outside of these Finals.

What a way to finish off the Paris 2024 Olympics Soccer tournament with Spain breaking the host nation hearts of France yesterday in the men’s and USWNT just returned to winning ways once again over Brazil. While there’s nothing we can do about it about our Matildas’ early exit when there’s no Sam Kerr due to a ongoing ACL knee injury, a new era awaits though from here later this year with a new coach now that Tony Gustavsson recently left last week after a roller coaster last few years.

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Olympics Soccer News: Spain def. France to end their long-awaited Olympics gold medal chase since Barcelona 1992 after a stunning finish in added extra time by 5-3

by Sports Benches

Heartbreak from the host nation France with the silver medal following their 3-1 loss to Spain at Parc Des Princes, especially when they haven’t played in Paris at all until the one and only time now. 

So a bit like the Blackcaps really in cricket when they’ve been unbeaten in New Zealand all along until they’ve lost to the Aussies with the World Cup Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground back in 2015.

For France, gotta say the starting goal keeper should’ve done any better to save these shots at his own end – which was disappointing really when Spain got away with 2-3 easy goals. They’ve did the best though possible off the back of their good start including their late charge to unseat Spain for the gold medal honours. But again, their extra time performance was as the same as the keeper’s first half display unfortunately. Not even having less ball on their own defensive end allowed Spain to extend their lead during another half hour’s play in Paris by 5-3.

As said, you gotta feel sorry for the French attackers who did their best to give their home crowd a best possible ending for gold. But Spain holds the cards though as the end of the day for gold since Barcelona 1992, having lost to Brazil last time round four years ago at Tokyo 2020 (in 2021 due to COVID) 2-0 via extra time.

Speaking of Spain, they’ve been unstoppable from 1-0 down to 3-1 going into half-time thanks to a double Fermin Lopez strike. Yes, they may have been held up at the first attempt following a high stakes 3-3 all after 100 minutes of two halves. But again, they are the team who ran the French defenses wild thanks to their expansive attacking play that rattled the opposition keeper all day long when substitute Sergio Camello scored back-to-back late extra time goals — and that is how you finish off a gold medal performance in Olympics soccer for Spain.

Now there’s two more days to go before Paris 2024 is done and dusted with the Closing Ceremony at Stade De France.

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Olympics Field Hockey News: Yibbi Jansen’s late penalty corner strike saves the day for the women’s Dutch team via penalty shootouts over China to complete the double triumph alongside the men’s at Paris 2024

by Sports Benches

Looks like the Netherlands have flipped the script that late off the back of China’s early 1-0 lead for the most part, even via penalties to successfully defend their Olympics Field Hockey crown from Tokyo 2020. Hats off to Yibbi Jansen who scored that usual penalty corner goal as always in the last 15 mins that levelled the scoresheets with China 1-1 after an hour’s of normal time before goal keeper Anne Veenendaal deflected most of the shots from China — and that helped the Dutch scorers score their way to a 5th overall Olympics gold medal in Field Hockey 3-1 via penalties over China. They’ve first won it back in LA 1984, Beijing 2008, London 2012, Tokyo 2020 and now Paris 2024.

What a tournament it has been to wrap up the double Dutch Olympics triumph off the back of their men’s team success yesterday v Germany also via penalty shootouts (3-1 after a 1-1 draw after 60 minutes). They knew China wasn’t en easy team to face at all, especially when you got former Hockeyroo as well as Dutch citizen and resident these days Alyson Annan as the opposition head coach. 

They have seen that coming with China’s early 1-0 headstart but at least the Dutch keep on attacking and pressing hard for the most part v the Chinese defense. Although as said, the penalty corners weren’t easy to say when you are playing in an Olympic Final; But at least Yibbi has always got when she finally found the breakthrough to stop the Alyson Annan’s Chinese team from reaching the finish line with her flying Dutch being Olympic Hockey champs once again. It’s been great watching her and her Dutch team play this year so far as seen a few times throughout the 23/24 Pro League season.

And looking at China, you gotta feel how much they’ve made it to the big dance – in which was so much hard work being paid off. We know how good they were to get the ball rolling as seen plenty of times throughout 2024 against the Hockeyroos which was tough to watch from an opposition’s standpoint with a few wins here and there and that early goal have sent the Dutch a big message when it comes to the gold medal fight. Don’t forget they’ve been at their best defensively where China did the best they could to hold out to a close 1-0 win.

However, what really let the Chinese down though is having less ball where they couldn’t get the chance to build on their 1-0 lead on top of their solid defense before Yibbi Jansen’s penalty corner goal in the last 15 took away that chance to hold out the win at the first attempt. Then the penalties have arrived after an hour’s worth of normal time and China just couldn’t find the sweet spot they were after when it comes to these penalty strikes & that was the game it was unfortunately with another runner-up finish. They are currently ranked 8th so China have came from a long way but sure winning more regular season games would be the next best thing soon enough.

So that’s it over in Stade Yves-Du-Manoir Stadium – the home of the 1924 Summer Olympics edition at the same Paris venue 100 years ago. It’s been a whirlwind two weeks of Olympics Field Hockey in Paris 2024 as they’ve been an excellent host while it remains to be seen where our Men’s Kookaburras and Women’s Hockeyroos teams go from there in a bid to win back major honours once again.

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Olympics Field Hockey News: The Men’s Dutch team has done over Germany via penalty shootout for Gold at Paris 2024

by Sports Benches

That Men’s Hockey Gold Medal Final was unbelievable to watch, particularly in the 4th and final quarter as well as penalty shootouts between the Netherlands and Germany. Both teams struggled to find the net for the most part until Netherlands found the first strike before Germany held them back at a penalty corner to bring it to a penalty shootout following a 1-1 draw in an hour’s worth of normal time. From then on, Germany unfortunately unable to get away with any successful strokes that paved the way for the Dutch to end their 24-year drought for gold at Stade Yves-Du-Manoir since Sydney 2000 – which was mission accomplished 3-1 in a penalties decider that completed payback from their London 2012 runner-up loss v Germany.

Now the Dutch can finally celebrate gold off the back of their top form where they’ve always been the best of the best in yearly FIH Pro League matches including this Olympics Field Hockey tournament. Shoutout to the experienced keeper Pirmin Blaak who never looked out of place every time he deflected these strikes from the Germans while the defense wasn’t bad and their penalty shooters have been brilliant through the net that sealed them a long-awaited Olympics gold. Now what the Dutch needs to do now is win back both the Pro League & the World Cup. The next Men’s World Cup will be in 2026 on home soil in Amstelveen alongside Belgium’s Wavre and the last time they’ve accomplished that feat was also previously on home soil at Utrecht back in 1998 with the 3-2 extra time win v Spain. 

Heartbreak from Germany with the silver medal as this is the side who also has been at their best but only at major tournaments, such as last year’s World Cup tournament in India and not when it comes to regular season form often v the top teams (6th in 23/24 Pro League term). Their defense wasn’t bad either to start off with & they’ve also benefitted from winning penalties as we’ve seen with the successful penalty corner in the last 15 mins that gave themselves another chance to try win another major title in the form of an Olympics Games gold medal. It’s a shame that their penalty attackers weren’t prepared well to press the experienced Dutch keeper at his own end where he kept all of these hit and miss shots before they well & truly know that the Dutch can have their cake with the gold medal by then following a 3-1 penalties loss there. They may have been great winning these rare tournament titles, but Germany needs to find a way if they wish to beat these top teams more often – so they can hopefully be the No.1 Men’s Hockey team in the World once again next time. 

Now we’ve got the women’s gold medal match to decide before the Olympics Field Hockey program is done tomorrow morning between the Netherlands and China as China’s head coach & former Hockeyroo Alyson Annan is set for mighty Dutch reunion this time as the opposing team. Will that Dutch triumph extend to the women’s team after we just saw with the men earlier this morning? Or will we see a Chinese breakthrough at last with the help of Annan following their Beijing 2008 silver medal loss to that same team last time out? It’s all to play for between these two strong teams at Stade Yves-Du-Manoir.

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Olympics Tennis News: Novak Djokovic finally achieves his long-awaited Olympic Games dream following a close straight sets win over Carlos Alcaraz

by Sports Benches

That was another close match between two of the best Tennis players we’ve had seen really this time in an Olympics level by both veteran Novak Djokovic from Serbia and rising star Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz for the gold medal match at Court Phillipe Chatrier. After two really close sets that all both ended via tiebreaks, the veteran stood out strong in none other than Djokovic who finally found the missing puzzle with the gold medal win.

The final score was 7-6 with 7-3 tiebreak and also 7-6 with 7-2 tiebreak that lasted nearly three hours in 2 hours & 50 mins.

Not bad from Alcaraz for a start when he got the ball rolling but then he began to struggle when it comes to the tiebreak under pressure and that’s where he was outrun by Djokovic on both occasions unfortunately here and there. Now that Djokovic had his moments and he’s age 37 right now, let’s hope he can get an Olympic gold at least but that will have to come in 2028 at Los Angeles. Plus, great to see him play at the Roland Garros over this past week alongside his idol and also veteran grand slam champion Rafael Nadal for a couple in the doubles too who played his last few matches for good.

At last but not least, Djokovic has conquered it all having won 3 x Roland Garros titles that now includes an Olympics gold medal at the same Roland Garros venue. Not only he got away against Rafa earlier this week during the 2nd round but he also just defeated another Spaniard involving Rafa’s heir in Alcaraz overnight for gold. Okay, the first couple of games during the first set wasn’t easy. However, he never gave up as always that cemented his place as a veteran grand slam star, and yet he’s done it including a long 2nd set where Djokovic stood his ground well through the very end to end his 16-year long wait – well done!!

Looks like it’s well and truly going to be the last time we’ve see these legends on-court with Rafa now retired while Novak may still have a bit longer to go before he too will eventually a call a day at some point but mostly like before LA 2028 by then. For now, bring on the 4th and final grand slam season of 2024 with the US Open tournament in New York beginning at the end of August to early September. 

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Olympics Tennis News: Super Saturday at Court Phillipe Chatrier with both the men’s doubles final as Matt Ebden & John Peers won gold including the women’s singles final

by Sports Benches

What a Final it was at Court Phillipe Chatrier as Matt Ebden and John Peers are now Olympic champions in the Men’s Doubles Final over Team USA’s duo of Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram out of a tight three set contest. The last time Australia won a gold medal there at an Olympics level was back in Atlanta in 1996 by both Todd Woodbridge & Mark Woodforde. Now fast forward to 28 years, Australia finally got their first gold medal in the 21st century for Tennis thanks to the superstar doubles duo of Ebden & Peers.

It wasn’t the easiest of starts when Ebden and Peers were behind earlier on, even though they had some fair share of battles before Team USA locked themselves in with the 1st set lead. But the game wasn’t over just yet when they began to turn themselves around from the set down & that paid off big time where they kept on going by putting their opponents under pressure until the very end. Now they might have almost lost 3 out of 4 gold medal points but at least that crucial final serve was good enough to see off both Krajicek and Ram for the gold medal win.

Commiserations from Krajicek and Ram whom they played oh so well off the back of a good headstart to stay ahead of Ebden and Peers. They never gave them an easy run for sure but they did however have slipped away at times following the 1-0 set lead where the final set best of ten tiebreak decider has been activated by Australia before Peers had the last say for the final serve for that gold medal point.

And how good was China Qinwen Zheng who finally got her breakthrough that may not be exactly at a grand slam at this stage but at least she won a gold medal at the Roland Garros with the straight sets (6-2 & 6-3) win over Croatia’s Donna Vekic. She too had a powerful first set performance while Zheng took her time well v the improving Vekic as the match goes on before she stood her ground that made her an Olympics champion for China. Sure she has unfinished ahead and that will be winning a grand slam after she fell short to Aryna Sabalenka back in late January of this year at Melbourne Park.

On Vekic, it wasn’t the match she wanted when she fired off not bad on both sets including some progress from the opening set down. But just couldn’t catch up nor found the long run consistency to put Zheng under pressure. She did make Croatia proud though as Vekic collected the silver medal ahead of Iga Swiatek from Poland who won bronze v Anna Karolína Schmiedlová from Slovakia (6-2 & 6-1).

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