Brazil easily defeated Spain 4–2 at the Orange Velodrome on Tuesday to get to the Paris 2024 Olympics final.
Salma Paralluelo scored a pair of late goals to salvage the match, but the damage had already been done as the world champions were eliminated from the gold-medal match by Irena Paredes’ own goal, Gabi Portilho, Adriana, and Kerolin.
Brazil was still devoid of legends. Marta’s appeal for a two-game penalty was denied, but her teammates made sure she would still be able to compete for the gold medal when she finished the Olympics.
After barely six minutes, Cata Coll’s shoddy clearance struck the unlucky Paredes on the side, sending the ball sailing across the line, putting Spain behind.
La Roja had trouble getting going, and Brazil’s poised one-on-one play with Coll at the end of the half allowed them to double their lead.
In the 71st minute, Adriana ensured their progress coming off the bench when, despite striking the bar, she was there to head Portilho’s nod-down in from close range.
That gave Spain a boost, and Paralluelo’s looping header beat Lorena for the rebound just before Alexia Putellas struck the crossbar and made a brilliant save to stall the recovery attempts.
Though Paralluelo would have the final say, scoring her second goal of the game from close range in the 112th minute, Kerolin provided the decisive blow in the first few seconds of stoppage time by sliding her low effort through Coll’s legs.
After winning the Women’s World Cup, Spain wanted to make history by being the first team to win Olympic gold, but they were beaten at the last hurdle.
La Roja had more shots (26 to 17) and more shots on goal (11 to 7) than Brazil in the end thanks to their late burst of opportunities.
However, Brazil’s supremacy was evident in other ways as well. They generated an expected goals (xG) of 3.27 and had six great opportunities overall, as they won a meeting with the US in the finals.
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