RIO DE JANEIRO -- The Olympics ended with a game worthy of the surroundings.
And in a tournament in which every team showed its imperfections, there was a worthy winner in Germany, which defeated Sweden 2-1 for its first gold medal in women's soccer.
All of which made for a fitting send-off for one of the sport's most successful coaches.
In front of a crowd of 70,000, the game provided all the twists, turns and skill associated with the iconic Maracana. A scoreless first half featured chances for both teams, but it wasn't until Dzsenifer Marozsan's goal in the opening minutes of the second half that Germany did what neither the United States nor Brazil could manage in preceding games: force Sweden to play from behind.
Germany then doubled its lead on a Swedish own goal, but Sweden quickly cut the deficit to a single goal to set up a tense finish over the remaining quarter of the game, right down to a scramble for the ball yards from the German goal in stoppage time.
In the final game of coach Silvia Neid's tenure, Germany joined the United States and Norway as the only countries to win both Olympic gold and World Cup titles in women's soccer.
More to come after the medals are awarded, but here are some thoughts at the final whistle.
1. Healthy Marozsan makes a difference
An injured Marozsan was far less than 100 percent when Germany and the United States met in a World Cup semifinal a year ago. And the day before the gold-medal game, German coach Silvia Neid suggested Marozsan was the only potential health concern for her team.
Well, Marozsan started this final and looked no worse for wear in the first half, as Germany slowly built offensive momentum. And she looked simply world class when a deflected cross fell to her feet in the 48th minute. A few yards outside the 18-yard box and unmarked, Marozsan took her time, picked her spot and curled a beautiful shot past the diving goalkeeper.
Time and again, the United States and Brazil hammered away at the Swedish goal in this tournament, but barely any of the shots from a bevy of talented players actually went on frame. Maroszan made the most of her first opportunity. Then her free kick from 20 yards in the 61st minute caromed hard off the post and into Sweden's Linda Sembrant, who scored an own goal on a failed clearance.
Put it on frame and good things happen. Have a healthy Marozsan and good things happen.
2. Sweden played for the gold
It took less than a minute for Sweden to earn a free kick near the German goal. The Swedes accumulated six first-half corner kicks. At times they had all 10 field players in the German end without the added enticement of a set piece. Really, they did. They even had an edge in possession through the first 45 minutes. All right, Sweden wasn't trying to pull off a Scandinavian ode to Barcelona. They played their way, which meant two organized and tightly synced lines of four on defense and a lot of long balls over the top. But they played.
All the hubbub about Sweden's defensive tactics in penalty-shootout wins against the United States and Brazil seemed forced anyway. And Sweden's supposedly dire soccer didn't stop 70,000 people from showing up to watch them play for the gold medal. But Sweden played to win -- or lose -- the gold medal for 90 minutes Friday night.
The Swedes almost paid for it on a couple of occasions in the first half, and it cost them when the back line found itself stretched on Marozsan's opening goal and the sequence that led to the own goal. But it also gave them a chance to threaten Germany's goal -- an Olivia Schough misfire on a Lotta Schelin cross and Schelin's missed shot on a counter were moments that will leave some Swedish fans to wonder what might have happened had their team scored first.
3. Meanwhile, in Sao Paulo
A tournament that began so promisingly for the host ended in bitter disappointment. Brazil left without a medal of any kind after a 2-1 loss to Canada in the bronze-medal game played in Brazil's largest city. By the time Brazil's goalless drought ended late in the second half -- the team going without a goal for nearly seven consecutive hours of soccer during the tournament -- Canada already had a two-goal cushion. But if it's a sad finish to what looked like a great Brazilian story, don't expect the Canadians to apologize for playing spoiler.
Canada becomes the fifth country to medal in women's soccer in back-to-back Olympics, taking the sting out of its own mildly disappointing showing as host of last year's World Cup. Although Christine Sinclair fittingly scored the eventual bronze-clincher against Brazil, Canada's feat is perhaps most impressive for how different the two medal-winning Canadian teams were.
In the span of those years, coach John Herdman successfully set the table for the post-Sinclair era. Friday's starting lineup included current West Virginia standouts Kadeisha Buchanan and Ashley Lawrence. And they are all but old-timers compared to 18-year-old Jessie Fleming and 17-year-old Deanne Rose, who scored the opening goal in the game. Add in Janine Beckie, who didn't start Friday but had such a strong tournament, Rebecca Quinn, Nichelle Prince and others, and Canada can celebrate both another medal and what the future holds.
