Three matches into their 2024 Olympic football campaign, the notion that Brazil’s women might yet drag themselves to glory in Paris this weekend — and finally banish one of the game’s most scratch-resistant curses — seemed fanciful.
The group stage was bruising for Brazil. They started with an unconvincing 1-0 victory against Nigeria and tanked against Japan, conceding twice in second-half stoppage time to lose 2-1. They were then on the wrong end of reigning World Cup champions Spain’s domination, the 2-0 scoreline no reflection of the technical chasm between the sides.
On an individual level, too, Brazil had been pretty well tenderised. Key players Tamires and Rafaelle were struggling with injuries. Right-back Antonia played the final stages of the Spain game on a broken leg. Marta, the team’s eternal talisman, watched the second half of that match from the dressing room having been sent off for a reckless challenge on Olga Carmona. Her tears as she left the pitch strongly suggested Marta thought her Olympic dream was fading away. She cannot have been the only one.
Marta is available for the gold-medal match after a two-match ban (Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)
Still, Brazil finished as the second-best of the third-placed teams, edging out Australia on goal difference — but few expected them to get much leverage out of it. Host nation France awaited in the quarter-finals. The consensus view, even back home, was that Brazil were limping towards another big-tournament exit.
Now, though? The outlook could not be more different.
Brazil are through to the gold-medal match in the Parc des Princes tomorrow (Saturday), having seen off the French 1-0 and then, on an unforgettable Tuesday evening in Marseille, exacted sweet revenge upon Spain, 4-2. Confidence levels are in the clouds. The USWNT will start the game as favourites but there is newfound belief and momentum in the Brazil camp.
“We’re going into this final as giants,” striker Gabi Portilho told Brazilian television channel SporTV earlier this week. “We know our strength, know what we’re capable of. It’s going to be beautiful.”
Viewed from the outside, it is a remarkable turnaround. The knives could easily have come out after those group-stage wobbles; instead, unity prevailed, Brazil’s players rallying around coach Arthur Elias and resolving to prove the doubters wrong.
“We closed ourselves off, told ourselves that we would get there, and we have,” said midfielder Angelina. “There are a lot of tired, injured girls in the squad, but we have played every game like it was a final. We did really well against France, which gave us a lot of confidence.”
That quarter-final victory, secured by a late Portilho strike, was a triumph of resilience and determination. Those attributes were on display against Spain in the next round, too, but there was also a sprinkling of magic dust. Brazil did not just sneak past the world champions. They biffed them up to an almost comical degree.
Brazil women’s 2024 Olympics has been a tale of two tournaments (Marcio Machado/Getty Images)
Brazil had been passive in the group meeting, abdicating possession throughout. In the semi-final rematch, Elias went for a different approach, asking his players to press high in bursts. Spain barely had time to think, let alone play. The early brain melt that gifted Brazil their opening goal — goalkeeper Cata Coll’s rushed clearance hit team-mate Irene Paredes and bounced back into the net — was symptomatic of the Spanish disarray.
As the match wore on, Brazil dropped a little deeper, luring their opponents onto them. When the opportunity came to counter-attack, they did so with ruthless precision. A Yasmim break down the left allowed Portilho to double the lead just before half-time and Adriana later added a third after a similar raid. Spain mustered a reaction in the dying minutes but the game was long gone by that stage.
Elias, understandably, took a good chunk of the credit — for nailing a high-risk strategy but also, in the wider view, for moulding a squad who buy into his ideas so fully. This is a team of few egos; players repeatedly emphasise the sovereignty of ‘the group’ over any individual. Elias has been in charge for less than a year but has created an incredibly healthy atmosphere.
Little wonder, then, that he is loved by his players. “Excuse my language, but Arthur is the (expletive),” said midfielder Kerolin, who came off the bench to score the fourth goal against Spain, in an interview on SporTV. “We went out there with a plan, with complete confidence in him.”
This final will nevertheless be a major test of Elias’ mettle.
For one thing, Brazil have an atrocious record against the USWNT, winning just four of the 42 meetings between the countries in women’s football. Then there is the dog-eared catalogue of Brazilian near-misses and agonising failures at major tournaments dating back to the 2000s. Famously, they are still searching for their first Olympic or World Cup title in women’s football. Their previous two Olympic gold-medal game appearances, in 2004 and 2008, both ended in defeat against the United States. History will weigh heavy tomorrow (4pm BST, 11am ET).
It is Elias’ job to keep his players in the present tense. But the 42-year-old also has a headache of his own to deal with before the teams walk out onto the pitch. He must decide whether or not to start Marta.
It barely needs saying that the six-time FIFA World Player of the Year is football royalty. She is an idol to Brazilians, a beloved member of the squad and, even at 38 years old, a player capable of bending games to her will. It is surely no coincidence, however, that the team have really gelled over the past two games in the suspended Marta’s absence.
If you were being cynical, you might say that her ban was a blessing for Elias. It allowed him to retool his midfield, adding more mobility and ballast, without the drama of having to drop his biggest star. But it was a problem deferred rather than solved. Marta, a silver-medal winner against the USWNT at those 2004 and 2008 Olympics, will be desperate for a starting berth.
Elias replaced previous head coach Pia Sundhage after the 2023 World Cup (Marcio Machado/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
Unless Elias has something novel up his sleeve, it seems likely she will have to settle for a place on the bench.
In the past, this would have sparked mutiny in Brazil, but those France and Spain knockout ties have shifted public opinion. Ahead of the final, Brazilian news website Globo is running a poll, asking readers whether Marta should start against the Americans. At the time of writing, only six per cent of respondents think she should.
What is certain is that Marta will be a good option if Elias needs to change things during tomorrow’s game. Indeed, a feature of his stewardship is his ability to shape matches with substitutions. Even those who don’t make the initial XI know they can still have a say.
“You need every player to be ready,” Elias has said. “You have to learn from the difficulties and focus on the solution rather than the problem. We have a really strong sense of unity here.”
As for his hopes for the final, Elias is allowing himself to dream.
“I have always said in public that we would compete, that we would fight to get Brazil back to the level we deserve,” he said. “But I told the players from the start that we were going to win the Olympics or the World Cup.
“I really believe we can be champions. We’re demonstrating the quality of Brazilian women’s football. I never doubted it.”
(Top photo: Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
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