USA TODAY Sports
RIO DE JANEIRO — Alex Morgan is here at the Olympics, though not in the capacity she hoped she’d be.
She had thought she’d be competing for a gold medal, not fielding questions about one of the most surprising and frustrating outcomes in the U.S. women’s national team history — a quarterfinal loss on penalty kicks to Sweden.
Sweden went on to beat Brazil, also in penalty kicks, and will face Germany on Friday for the gold medal match. It’s the first time the Americans did not reach at least the semifinals in a major international tournament.