Australia’s hopes of reaching the women’s soccer quarter finals at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games remain alive, following Monday morning’s stunning 6-5 win over a devastated Zambia at the Allianz Riviera in Nice.
A match which will go down in Australian sporting folklore, the Matildas came from the clouds to pocket maximum points, after trailing 5-2 inside 56 minutes.
From VAR checks to eight minutes of injury time – and everything in between – this match had it all and left spectators and players needing time to ponder what they had just witnessed.
Tied at 5-all heading into injury time, Michelle Heyman – one of three Australian substitutes brought on following Zambia’s fifth goal – capitalised on a delightful through-ball from captain Steph Catley and firmly placed her shot in the bottom right hand corner of the net, as Zambian ‘keeper Ngambo Musole ruefully looked on.
With victory, Tony Gustavsson’s side sit third in Group B, with a win and defeat from their opening two matches. They’ve scored six and conceded eight goals so far.
Elsewhere, the US comprehensively defeated Germany 4-1 at the Stade de Marseille, which ensured their spot in the quarter finals.
The Matildas take on the US in their final group game on Thursday morning at 1am WST in Marseille.
In order to qualify, the Matildas will likely need to end the tournament as one of two third-placed sides with the highest ranking, given the Germans will go into their final match against Zambia as warm favourites.
For this to occur, Gustavsson’s side is likely going to need help from results elsewhere, along with a need to improve their goal difference against the gold medal favourites.
Overall Medal tally (Monday, 6am WST)
Japan presently leads the medal tally standings, with four gold medals, two silver and one bronze. Australia is second with four gold and two silver. Other nations in the top five are the US, France and South Korea.
Canoeing
Australia’s Jess Fox – a flag bearer at Saturday morning’s opening ceremony – achieved her dream of Olympic gold, after claiming line honours in the canoe slalom K-1 final.
Hockey
The Hockeyroos came from behind to defeat South Africa 2-1 in their opening pool match, with goals to Stephanie Kershaw and Tatum Stewart. They are in Pool B action again on Monday night at 11pm against Great Britain.
Rugby Sevens
Australia got off to a fantastic start on day one of women’s rugby sevens competition at the Stade de France, with big victories over South Africa, 34-5, and Great Britain, 36-5, respectively – ensuring their spot in the quarter finals.
However the biggest story was in Pool A, with China stunning traditional rugby powerhouse Fiji 40-12.
Swimming
The men’s 100m breastroke final went right down to the wire, with Italy’s Nicolo Martingenghi claiming gold in remarkable circumstances.
The Italian finished two one-hundredths of a second ahead of Great Britain’s Adam Peaty and American Nic Fink, who both shared the silver medal.
Australian duo Ariarne Titmus and Mollie O’Callaghan also both qualified for Tuesday morning’s 200m women’s freestyle final.
Sunday wrap
Australians woke on Sunday morning to learn that their national heroes had begun in stirring fashion – netting three gold and two silver medals, which ensured top spot on the medal tally leaderboard.
Aside from individual brilliance, team success was also aplenty, particularly in men’s basketball and men’s hockey.
Basketball
The Boomers kicked off their men’s campaign in style on Saturday afternoon at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille, defeating tournament fancies Spain 92-80 in a fiery encounter.
Led by Jock Landale (20 points, nine rebounds, five assists), the Boomers burst out to a 31-21 lead at quarter time, with their slick ball movement too much for the Spaniards to handle.
Brian Goorjian’s men shot 22/43 (51.2 per cent) in the paint, along with hitting 12/24 from beyond the arc.
The officiating crew was busy during the first half, calling 24 fouls, with pushing, shoving and spot fires flaring up periodically.
By the end of the game, the foul count hit 44, with six Spaniards ending the game with three personal fouls.
In contrast, five Boomers players ended with five fouls or less, with centre Will Magney fouling out.
Australia’s next group match is on Tuesday night at 7.30pm WST against Canada.
Hockey
The Kookaburras were forced to dig deep during their opening 1-0 men’s victory over Argentina at the Yves du Manior Stadium, with a moment of magic from Blake Govers in the second quarter separating the two sides.
Although able to sustain possession for lengthy periods, the Kookaburras were routinely forced to work their way through a wall of light blue and white shirts, with the Argentines content to park numbers back in defence.
In the dying seconds of the match, sixth-ranked Argentina turned the screws in a bid to secure an equaliser, however a series of quality saves from Kookaburras ‘keeper Andrew Charter denied them.
Road Cycling
Amid driving rain and gloomy skies, Grace Brown’s smile shone brightly, as the 32-year-old claimed gold in the women’s road cycling individual time trial.
Her victory also marked Australia’s first road cycling gold medal in 20 years.
Brown, who announced earlier this year she intends to retire from the sport, overcame a challenging start to fiercely hold off Great Britain’s Anna Henderson and American Chloe Dygert.
The heavy conditions resulted in a spate of crashes, including Dygert, who cruelly spun out while navigating a corner.
Prior to this, the American had appeared to be on course for a gold-winning ride.
Rugby Sevens
France produced arguably the biggest upset across all tiers of men’s international rugby this year to date, by thumping Fiji 28-7 at a pumping Stade de France on Saturday night (WST) to claim gold.
Heading into the final, Fiji had never lost a men’s match at an Olympic Games and were aiming for their 18th consecutive victory, after easily seeing off Australia 31-7 in the semifinal.
However ‘Les Bleus’ – led by an exceptional individual display by Antoine Dupont – broke the game open in the second half, after the match had been deadlocked 7-all at the interval.
Australia’s hopes of a maiden medal in men’s rugby sevens were snuffed out in the dying stages of their bronze medal clash against South Africa, who scored a late try in their tense 26-19 win.
Swimming
Ariarne Titmus successfully defended her 400m freestyle crown, while Australia also claimed gold in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay – which was their fourth successive victory.
Elijah Winnington claimed silver in the men’s 400m freestyle, as did the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay team.
