Today, August 6, 2024, Brazil shocked the world by eliminating current world champions Spain and securing a spot in the women’s Olympic soccer final.
The match, played at the Orange Velodrome in Marseille, France, was expected to be a contested affair, but overall it was agreed that Spain was the favorite. However, as any sports fan will tell you, sports don’t always follow the expected script.
The favorites don’t always win, and the underdogs don’t always lose. And that is exactly what happened today at the Velodrome.
The game began at 9:00 PM local time, which translates to 12:00 PM in California.
Right off the bat, Brazil’s unprecedented upset began. Only six minutes into the first half, an own goal caused by a crucial mistake within the Spanish defense gave Brazil an early 1-0 lead.
Brazil’s second goal came right before halftime when Gabi Portilho received a cross from Yasmin and managed to put the ball into the bottom right corner.
With a 2-0 lead at halftime, everything seemed more than perfect for the Brazilian team, who, despite the elastic score, hadn’t seen much of the ball in the first half.
The stats at the end of the first half were 25% possession for the Brazilian team and 75% for the Spanish team. For those not too familiar with soccer, that is a tremendous difference.
Although Spain had much more possession in the first half, they weren’t able to create too many good chances, and due to defensive mistakes and offensive effectiveness, they went into the second half with a mountain to climb.
The second half started, and although Spain’s possession domination continued, Brazil’s goal-scoring prowess did as well.
The third goal for the Brazilian girls came at the 71st minute when, after a fast break, Gabi Portilho gave an assist with her head to Adriana, who finished off the play with another header, putting the ball in the bottom right corner.
Down 3-0 and with not much time left, the Spaniards were still able to react.
At the 85th minute, Salma Paralluelo reduced the deficit with a close-range header assisted by Jenni Hermoso.
The game still went on to have two more goals, one for each side.
Kerolin put another in for Brazil at the 91st minute, and Salma Paralluelo scored Spain’s second in the game’s dying minutes.
As a result of this meaningful win, Brazil’s girls will now face the United States in the final, which will be played on Saturday, August 10.
The final will mark the end of the eighth edition of women’s soccer at the Olympics and will be played at the historic Parc des Princes in Paris, France.
The match on Saturday actually won’t be the first time both teams have met each other in a women’s soccer Olympic final.
Back in 2008, the final was also USA vs. Brazil, and on that occasion, the United States got the better of Brazil and won gold after a tight match that ended 1-0.
Now, 16 years later, they will meet again.
Last time it was in Beijing, now it will be in Paris.
The United States will, like Spain, go into the match as favorites. but as we learned today, when the subject is sports, numbers sometimes are just numbers and If there’s anything we’ve learned at this year’s Olympics, it’s that in sports nothing is given and everything is earned.
Spain went into today’s match as favorites, as world champions, but was left defeated and humiliated and if the United States don’t go in with the right mentality the same could happen to them.
However, Saturday’s story will be different.
It won’t be champion vs. underdog—it will be a fallen queen vs. a dreamer.
The United States goes in having something to prove. It’s been a while since the USNWT has won anything on a big stage, and for a nation that for years was considered the best in the world, a win on Saturday will help send the message that the big dogs of women’s football are back.
For Brazil, Saturday will mean redemption, redemption from repeated failures, and an opportunity to finally win something.
No matter what happens on August 10, the only thing we can be sure of is that history will be written and a good game will be played.
So stay tuned, and mark the day on your calendar, because on August 10, the world of sports will stop and watch as the two best teams in the world take the field, after gold, after reassurance, and after redemption.
