Canada win Olympic gold after dramatic penalty shootout

Canada won gold in the Olympic women's soccer tournament on Friday after a 3-2 sudden-death penalty shootout win against Sweden, following a 1-1 draw at the end of extra time.

Stina Blackstenius put Sweden ahead in the first half before Jessie Fleming equalized with her second penalty of the tournament. 

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"I mean, it even looks prettier," Christine Sinclair said, holding up the gold medal.

"I honestly cannot even believe what just happened. For the last 40 days, we had a goal to come in here and change the color of the medal, and we landed on top of the podium. Just such an honor to be part of this group."

Sweden had won all five of their games in Tokyo entering the final, and the European team started the stronger of the two sides, controlling the ball and peppering the Canadian goal with shots. 

Some lovely link-up play between Sweden's Kosovare Asllani and Blackstenius saw Peter Gerhardsson's side break the deadlock on 34 minutes. 

Sweden went into the break looking confident, but Canada came out in the second half with renewed energy. 

Their tenacity was rewarded on 64 minutes when Amanda Ilestedt brought Sinclair down in the penalty area. 

Initially, the referee waved away the challenge but after a lengthy VAR review, she awarded the spot kick. 

Fleming, who had scored a penalty against the U.S. women in the semifinal, was handed the ball by Sinclair and sent Hedvig Lindahl in the wrong direction to bring the sides equal. 

With the match ending 1-1 after 90 minutes, the game went to extra time and then to penalties.

Canada had finished second in Group E behind Great Britain earlier in the tournament before earning knockout-stage wins against Brazil and eventual bronze medallsts the United States.

Sinclair, who has made 305 international appearances, said she no longer felt burdened by being a senior player in the side.

"Honestly, that's something I felt in the past, but not with this group. This group is loaded, and I just know I need to do my job, I need to do whatever I can to help the team win," she added.

"In every game, that's different; I don't have to play out of my skin for us to win. It's great to be part of that."

Information from The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.