The night was low and the women's soccer final at the Paris Olympics unfolded in the early hours of Sunday (11) amidst passion. The U.S. women's soccer team beat Brazil by a narrow 1-0 margin to pocket the Olympic women's soccer gold medal for the fifth time in their history. The victory was undoubtedly the finale on the stage of life for Brazil's female soccer ace, Mada.
Mada, 38, completed her farewell to her international career in the final. Despite the ill-fated fate of standing in the Olympic final three times only to fail, she smiled with tears in her eyes after the match, describing the silver medal as the most glorious of all.
With Mada missing the first two matches due to suspension during the course of the match, the Brazilian women's soccer team's early offense was impressive for a while, but an offside call on Ludimena was the turning point. In the second half, the U.S. began to come out firing, and at the 57-minute mark, Schwenson broke down the left side of the field and fired a pinpoint shot to open the scoring for the United States. Mada's high shot at the end of the game showed her tenacity, although it did not change the game.
Prior to the Olympics, Mada had been through six world wars and six Olympics. This time, she declared it her last international competition. Unfortunately, after 2004 and 2008, she lost again in the Olympic final and never got to taste the gold medal. Despite tearing up in the red card during the group stage, the tears in this final were of happiness and consolation to her teammates.
My tears are of gratitude and joy, says Mada with emotion. We went through a lot of difficulties before we got the silver medal. I feel very honored, I didn't feel this way when I got the silver medal in 2004 and 2008. After 16 years of waiting to get back to the Olympic final, honestly, no one would have believed that the Brazilian women's soccer team could make it to the final and win a medal.
