Monsterrat Tomé started with 3 Madridistas in the starting XI. Olga started on the left back alongside Codina, Paredes and Ona, with Cata Coll on the goal. Teresa played as a defensive midfielder alongside Jenni Hermoso and Aitana, while Eva Navarro started as a right winger in attack with Salma and Mariona.
Even though the statistics were heavily on Spain’s side – including 76% ball possession and 80% passing accuracy compared to Brazil’s 51% – Brazil’s defense did a tremendous job at keeping Spaniards at bay.
The Brazilian goalkeeper Lorena Leite made 8 crucial saves throughout the match, whether the shots came from long distance or from inside the box, the Brazilian was always immaculate.
The match saw 6 goals and the scoresheet opened in the sixth minute with a big mistake. After a series of messy back passes, Cata Coll was under pressure by Priscila and as she was about to kick it out but the ball when it brushed off Priscilla and bounced off Irene Paredes into the net.
Even though the play was on Brazil’s half most of the time, Spain had problems getting the ball into the final third. The idea was to cross to Paralluelo but what would actually happen was that she would either have to pass it back due to the defenders surrounding her as soon as she got the ball, or the ball would never even reach her. Brazil, on the other hand, was always quick in their counter attacks and they would almost always end up in a big chance due to the problems in tracking back with the Spanish defense.
In the last minute of the added time in the first half, Brazil doubled their lead when Yasmim made a run on the left hand-side and sent a long ball into the box to Gabi Portilho who masterfully sent it into the lower left corner.
At halftime, Oihane got in for Olga and Athenea got in for Navarro.
The second half went just as the first half did, but with nerves hitting the Spanish players more and more as the game went on. Spain tried more but Brazil would always be more concrete in their attacks, always finding gaps in the Spanish defense to make a run. A brilliant example of that was their third goal in 72’ where they went on a counterattack right after a clearance in the final third. Priscila took the ball onto a wide run and as the Spaniards were finding their positions in defense, she found an opening to pass to Adriana who then took a shot and hit the crossbar. The ball went back to play, where Portilho was waiting to pass it with her head to Adriana who sent it into the net by a low header.
Soon after the goal, Alexia Putellas got in for Spain instead of the centerback Laia Codina. In 85’ Spain’s first goal came from Alexia’s corner. Jennifer Hermoso got the ball in the box, heading it forwards to Paralluelo who then headed it in after Duda failed to clear it off the line. The goal was finally given as an own goal by Duda.
After 3-1, Spain looked more hopeful, and they were much more prominent in their attacks. Lorena had a few tough saves to make in the final minutes of the regular 90 minutes. Two of them were from Alexia’s strong long distance shots which the Brazilian goalie managed to save masterfully.
In the first minute of added time, Brazil scored another and shattered Spain’s dreams once again in the same match. It came from another defensive mistake. For this goal, there’s additional context – Cata Coll was wearing a mask in the first half as she injured her nose two games prior but she took it off at halftime, probably due to not being able to see very well (which can be seen in the first goal where she obviously didn’t see well when trying to kick the ball out). Cata’s long goal kick in 90+1’ ended in Oihane’s possession who lost the control in the first touch and Kerolin took advantage of that to go on a run, go 1-on-1 versus Cata and beat her to it scoring that final blow for Spain.
Spaniards weren’t giving up, as there was 15 minutes of added time, but the nerves settled in. They did manage to score another, where Paralluelo pushed the ball into the Brazilian net the second time in 90+12’, but it was too little too late.
Another interesting statistic from the game was that Brazil managed 7 big chances in 95 completed passes, while Spain managed only 4 in 473 completed passes.
Reminder that Real Madrid’s new reinforcement Antonia Silva got injured in the group stage game against Spain and is expected to be out for 3 months. Her country will fight for gold against USA on Saturday. The Spaniards will face Germany on Friday in the bronze medal match.