Ninety minutes. Six goals. Two teams. One advancing spot. Nothing to lose. Everything to win. Brazil did the impossible to stun reigning world champions Spain out of gold medal contention at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Yes, even the best can be beaten. In only 11 days of Olympic action, athletes from all fields of sport have defied records, attained superhuman abilities, don’t need hope, forget chance, and break new grounds. We are capable of anything we put our mind to. The Olympic spirit embodies the bright and burning flame, reminding us to never give up .That example showcased perfectly during Brazil’s 4-2 semi-final victory over the world’s #1. All while showing the rest of the world what they are made of.
To get to this point, Spain narrowly avoided another South American nation in a penalty shootout during the quarter-final.vs Colombia. Colombia started off mighty and momentous, securing an unheard of early 2-0 lead over the feisty Spaniards before conceding two late goals led by Jennifer Hermoso in the 79th minute and Irene Paredes in the 90+7th minute. After a scoreless 30 minutes of overtime, it was up to fate and some lucky feet to convert penalty shots from the 18-yard box and carry one of the two countries to the semifinal. Spain are generally not known for their penalty taking expertise because being so globally dominant does not require a team who is expected to win to go into overtime. But it happens. As the Americans say in their football, “Any given Sunday.” The individual brilliance of five penalty takers along with solid goalkeeper Cata Coll saw Spanish players shortly run to the center of the field in celebration. Similarly, Brazil defied quarterfinal statistics on paper and took down the hostesses of the competition, France. A 1-0 result could not have gone any better, as one goal was all they needed to confront the next European team in their way.
During the semi-final, Spain head coach Monste Tomé went viral on social media for standing on the sideline with a notepad and pen in hand, apparently writing down her tactics or thoughts. Yet, despite this effort of on-field education, Spain seemed shaky from the start. While attempting to clear a ball, the off-target rebound bounced and hit Barcelona’s Irene Paredes into the back of the net, resulting a goal for Brazil 6 minutes into play. Despite maintaining 76% possession over 90 minutes, 10 shots on goal were not enough to pass Brazil’s well composed defense and goalkeeper Lorena. To add injury to insult, FC Barcelona fans were questioning the reason as to why Alexia Putellas was not selected to start the game. Putellas has been fundamental in creating chances and goal scoring abilities with two goals already this Olympics. Some say that her entry as a substitute in the 59th minute was too late to make a pivotal difference with Brazil scoring 4 goals. After half-time, things did not get better for La Roja as Brazil’s Gabi Portilho made it look too easy against the tournament’s Goliath. Culers such as Salma Paralluelo, Aitana Bonmatí , Ona Batlle, Irene Paredes, Patri Guijarro, Alexia Putellas, and Cata Coll were involved in play, but it’s fair to say that none of them had the best day. Difficulty connecting passes, communicating, and coming together as a unit. C’est la vie. Brazil were hungry and certainly had a feast. Especially in honor of their all-time great, Marta, who is participating in her last major international event after a trailblazing career for women and girls in football since the early 2000s. By the time Brazil scored 3, heads turned down and smiles into frowns.
Due to apparent time wasting on both sides going into the final stretch, the referee extended an extra 15 minutes at the end of 90 minutes considered injury time, although still not considered an “overtime.” Similar to the result against Colombia, Spain pulled a 2 goal trigger after the 85th minute, but Brazil’s quit was nonexistent. The match finally ended 4-2 with the Portuguese speaking, samba dancing, well deserved selection advancing to the gold medal match vs the USA. Spain have occasion to redeem their pride in the bronze medal match vs Germany, who narrowly missed their golden opportunity by conceding to the red white and blue. The gold medal match will commence on Saturday, August 10th at 17:00 Spain time and 16:00 London time. The bronze medal match will be happening the day before, Friday August 9th at 15:00 Spain time and 14:00 London time. Through thick and thin, everything in time.
