“There were some really fantastic matches and it has been a great advert for the women’s game,” said US winger Megan Rapinoe, who scored a stunning free-kick against Canada.
The knock-out stages were particularly gripping. There was a thrilling final, a dramatic bronze medal match and two classic semi-finals as the Japanese held off a French fightback and the States stunned their North American rivals. Knockout football in major tournaments is often tense, with a fear of failure leading to games that lack ambition. This was not the case at the Games.
The matches were feisty and competitive, yet they were largely devoid of some of the gamesmanship that sometimes undermines the men’s game. The players were open and approachable, just witness the Canadians patiently stopping to sign autographs not long after their semi-final defeat.
“We get a lot of positive feedback saying we don’t dive, we don’t swear as much as the men, we have to continue to do that and be respectful,” said Great Britain winger Karen Carney.
“I have a five-year-old niece Keira so I’d hate to be a bad role model for her.”
A total of 666,151 watched 71 goals scored across the 26 matches played at six different stadiums. That is an average of 25,621 per match. Thursday’s final at Wembley was played in front of a crowd of 80,203, comfortably beating the previous record of 76,489 for an Olympic women’s football final set back in 1996.
No wonder a Fifa spokesman said: “It shows what a vital and robust part football plays in the Olympic Games.”
Prior to the tournament, the record crowd for a women’s match on these shores in the modern era was 29,092 for the opening fixture of Euro 2005 between England and Finland at the City of Manchester Stadium.
BBC commentator Steve Wilson covered that tournament and recalls that many of the other games were very poorly attended.