Women’s football will have been part of the Olympic calendar for two decades at the Rio 2016™ Games, with many stories to tell and just one team to be beaten: the United States. With four gold medals and one silver on their resume, the Americans won the championship at the last three editions of the Olympic Games, twice against Brazil – at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, both in extra time – and at London 2012, with a 2-0 victory over Japan.

At the decisive match in Beijing, after a scoreless 90 minutes, midfield Carli Lloyd scored the winning goal in extra time, while in London, the US number 10 player scored two goals in the finals, held at Wembley. “What I love to do is to take players on and shoot from distance. A goal in Beijing, and now two today. At my third Olympic Games I’m planning on scoring a hat-trick”, said the 30-year-old athlete after the match.

If Lloyd achieved glory after the last two Olympic finals, two Brazilian players immortalised their names right in their first game for the national squad at the London Games. Midfielder Formiga became the only player in the world to have participated in all five editions of the Games, while striker Cristiane scored a goal in Brazil’s 5-0 victory over Cameroon, moving ahead in her private duel with German Prinz.

“I was a striker at the Athens Games, scoring five goals, while in Beijing I scored another five goals, two against Prinz’s Germany in the semi-finals. We ended the competition drawing, 10 goals each, but now I’m in the lead”, said Cristiane, who also scored a goal against New Zealand in London, taking her total number of Olympic goals to 12.

Cristiane, who turned 28 years old on the 15th, has been living for four months in South Korea, where she plays for the Daekyo Kangaroos alongside compatriot Pretinha. The striker first played at the Olympic Games at the age of 18 at Athens 2004, and since then she has become an icon of the Brazilian team alongside Marta.

“I started on the substitute bench, but during the very first match I was brought on in the second half and I haven’t left the team since. We did fantastic work with Renê (Simões, the coach). This work has greatly affected my life. That group was the best I have ever worked in”, says Cristiane, who has also played in Germany, Sweden, the United States and Russia, and is now trying to get used to life in Asia.

Hope Solo and striker Wambach (number 14) stood out in another U.S. title (Foto: Getty Images/Michael Regan)

Regarding the Rio 2016™ Games, Cristiane hopes to climb up one more level on the podium, following her two silvers won as part of the Brazil squad at the Olympics. However, she says that despite playing at home, the green and yellow team is far from being the favourites.

“Women’s football has evolved a lot, especially abroad. Japan, for example, spent years on a losing streak, but they have learned how to play and now they are the women’s Barcelona. They aren’t shaken by anything, they are very patient and kick the ball with mastery. I believe that Japan are the favourites to win in Rio de Janeiro, alongside Germany, which didn’t achieve good results at the last World Cup or in London, and they will want to win at any cost”, she said, adding the US, France and Canada to her list of favourites.

In 2015, Canada will host the seventh edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, the next major world event. Cristiane believes it will be a great opportunity for Brazil to improve in the sport.

“The best players in the world and the best teams compete in the Olympic Games. Brazil must have the humility to research what the other teams are doing differently in order to, who knows, use another methodology and start winning titles again”, she said, in a telephone interview with the rio2016.com website.