US eyes revenge on Sweden in Olympic women's soccer opener

Sweden and the United States drew 1-1 in the women's football quarter-final at the Rio Olympic Games in Brasilia after 120 minutes. Sweden won 4-3 in a penalty shootout to reach the last four on Aug 12, 2016. The picture shows Sweden's Dahlquist (L) against United States' David Johnston. (Photo/Xinhua)

U.S. women's soccer team is gearing up for the revenge on Sweden in Tokyo to wipe out the shame of being knocked out by the vigorous opponent at the Rio Olympics.

TOKYO, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The United States is eyeing revenge on Sweden in the Tokyo Olympics women's soccer opener on Wednesday.

The U.S. team has been in absolute dominance since the inception of women's football in the Olympics in 1996, winning four out of the six golds. But it suffered the greatest setback in the Rio Olympics when the team lost to Sweden in a penalty shootout in the quarterfinals.

The two teams were drawn into the same group in the Tokyo Olympics with their matchup taking place on Wednesday.

Becky Sauerbrunn (L) competes with Kosovare Asllani of Sweden during the group F match between the United States and Sweden at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in Le Havre, France, June 20, 2019. (Xinhua/Mao Siqian)

Speaking at the pre-match press conference, U.S. captain Becky Sauerbrunn said the loss had motivated her team ever since, including claiming the Women's World Cup trophy in 2019.

"What happened in 2016 is one of the worst results that the senior national team has had in a major tournament," she said.

"From playing in that game, I know how disappointed we all were and for me, it has lit a fire going into 2019 and also here. And it was against Sweden so it seems kind of rich that we get to play them first game of this Olympics. I'm really excited about that," she added.

The U.S. women's team is again widely seen as the front runner for gold in Tokyo, aided by their recent impressive defensive record.

"We are very detailed in everything we do," said head coach Vlatko Andonovski. "It makes my job easier when we have players with the mentality that this team has."

A total of 12 women's football teams have qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, with the group stage actions starting on Wednesday.