RIO DE JANEIRO -- What is more impressive than eliminating 11 Americans who held the Olympic and World Cup titles?
How about silencing tens of thousands of Brazilians on that nation's grandest soccer stage?
Sweden pulled off its second Olympic surprise by eliminating host Brazil 4-3-in a penalty shootout in the Maracana after the two teams drew 0-0 over 120 minutes.
Able to advance to the knockout round only as the third-place team in its group, and beaten 5-1 by Brazil in the process, Sweden now plays for the gold medal and its first major tournament title in women's soccer Friday against the winner of the second semifinal between Germany and Canada.
Lisa Dahlkvist converted the final penalty kick to send Sweden through.
There is more to come from the Maracana, but here are three thoughts at the final whistle.
1. Hedvig Lindahl saves the day
Finally, there might be a goalkeeper of whom Brazilians are less fond than Hope Solo. Quickly making a name for herself in these situations, if she hadn't done so already, Lindahl came up with two saves in the shootout, including one against Andressa in the fifth and final round.
That followed 120 minutes in which Lindahl became the subject of the crowd's ire for killing time in a game Sweden seemed happy to take to penalties. That included a late save on a free kick when Lindahl genuinely appeared to collide with the post but drew boos when she stayed down to receive attention. She won't mind the lack of love a bit.
2. Sweden's center backs definitely not cowards
This really applies to the whole back line, which withstood a genuinely daunting surge in the game's opening 20 minutes -- Brazil's attack urged on by a crowd in full voice. But watching Nilla Fischer and Linda Sembrant work together under siege was to marvel at how calm and pliable defenders must be under the severest of pressure.
Brazil desperately wanted to use its speed to break behind Sweden's back line, time and again hitting long diagonal passes to runs designed to stretch and slip behind the defense. And time and again, the outside backs stretched to the breaking point beyond them, Fischer and Sembrant held the line and defused any danger. That Brazil never really found another way to break through was partly its own undoing, but for the second game in a row, Sweden's defense frustrated a team with the talent to break down just about any line.
3. A scene to remember
The streets around the Maracana were lined with queuing fans more than three hours before the start of the game, and the sea of yellow and green attire suggested not many of them were there for the morning volleyball quarterfinal between the Netherlands and South Korea at the adjacent arena (although with the Brazilian women's volleyball team in action Tuesday night, the day did offer a unique opportunity for home fans to binge watch the nation's best female athletes). Those lines were a sign of the atmosphere to come.
There were a few empty seats, particularly in the area of the stands not shaded from the hot sun (which unfortunately were those most easily caught by television cameras), but from the national anthem to the roars of approval each time a Brazilian player slid past a Swedish defender, the crowd was all anyone could hope for in a big game in this stadium.
Even at the end, after a few moments of silence settled over the stadium in the aftermath of defeat, the crowd applauded the Brazilian team off the field.
Now the hope is that the result won't keep them from coming back -- or keep the Brazilian federation from funding the national team at a level that will allow them to win titles.