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Megan Rapinoe scored a stunning goal to open scoring as the USWNT won an Olympic bronze-medal.
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The pink-haired star launched her corner kick directly into the back of the net for an “Olimpico.”
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It’s the second time in her career that Rapinoe has achieved the rare feat in an Olympics match.
Megan Rapinoe scored one of the most impressive goals of her career during the US Women’s National Team’s bronze medal-winning match at the Tokyo Olympics.
The pink-haired striker launched a corner kick directly into the back of the net to open scoring for the USWNT against Australia. The rare feat – also called an “Olimpico” in honor of a 1924 goal from Argentine standout Cesareo Onzari – typically comes once in a lifetime, if at all, for professional soccer players.
But for Rapinoe, lightning has struck twice. And both times, it’s happened at the Olympic Games.
The most recent of the two came at the Tokyo Olympics, while most Americans were asleep Thursday morning.
In just the eighth minute of the game against the Matildas – their second head-to-head matchup of the Olympic tournament in Tokyo – the 36-year-old curled the ball past Australian goalkeeper Teagan Micah in a stunning scene.
Almost a full decade earlier, Rapinoe pulled off the same feat at the 2012 Olympics in London. During the USWNT’s legendary semifinal match against Canada, the then-27-year-old – who sported bleached-blonde locks before trying her signature pink hair color – snuck a corner kick into the box and just behind the near post to equalize for the United States.
That time around, Rapinoe and the USWNT survived and advanced all the way to the top of the podium.
But nine years later, Vlatko Andonovski’s team fell short of its gold-medal expectations thanks to a heartbreaking semifinal loss to Christine Sinclair and her Canadian side. It was the first time the Americans faltered against their neighbors to the North in 20 years.
Despite the let-down of not making the gold-medal match, Rapinoe and her teammates were focused and firing on all cylinders in pursuit of bronze in Tokyo.
A first-half brace from Rapinoe helped the effort – and a stoppage-time cherry-on-top from Carli Lloyd forced Australia into a 3-1 deficit heading to the locker room.
The game ended 4-3 to the USWNT after an early second half goal from Carli Lloyd put the Americans 4-1 ahead, before goals from Foord and Gielnik tightened up the scoreline.
The Matildas ultimately failed to level the scores, with Rapinoe and her teammates taking home bronze.
Read the original article on Insider