The Copa América Femenina Final Had It All: Goals, Controversy, And Marta

If conventional wisdom holds that international tournament finals are often boring and conservatively played, the Copa América Femenina final between Brazil and Colombia was a glorious exception. Eight goals, an under-punished headbutt, four total comebacks, a returning legend contributing yet another legendary feat, a tense if not stellar penalty shootout ... Saturday's match in Quito, Ecuador had just about everything. The only thing it lacked was an upset, as the favored Brazil fought back time and time again to win the shootout, lifting its fifth straight Copa trophy.

The first half of the final started a bit slow, as might be expected from that aforementioned conventional wisdom, but once Linda Caicedo scored in the 25th minute, a goal confirmed by a lengthy VAR review, this match was off to the races:

After taking the lead on the Brazilians, who had just beat Uruguay 5-1 in the semis, Colombia settled in to play a defensive game. The three-time Copa runners-up, having lost all three finals to Brazil (in 2010, 2014, and in the last tournament in 2022, on home soil), were comfortable in this role, and held off Brazil until stoppage time in the first half, when Jorelyn Carabalí quite literally lost her head. The Colombia left back was getting up from the grass when she headbutted Brazil's Giovana directly in the noggin, a clear red card to anyone except the referee, who, after checking the instant replay, awarded a penalty but only gave Carabalí a yellow:

I'm not sure how something that would get a player ejected from an NFL game for targeting would only muster a yellow here, but Angelina took advantage of the penalty and scored her spot kick to even the score heading into halftime:

On the other side of the break, it would be Brazil who had a defensive mistake leading to a goal. In the 69th minute, Colombia pressed as Brazil was building out from the back, and that bit of pressure confused both keeper Lorena and center back Tarciane. As Lorena came out to collect the ball, Tarciane panicked and tried to pass it back to her goalie, who was out of position. The ball gently and painfully rolled into the bottom corner of the goal, giving Colombia the lead once more:

Since I already spoiled that this would eventually go to penalties, let's not waste time: 11 minutes after that defensive mistake, Brazil got back level via Amanda Gutierres. In the 80th minute, the substitute, who had scored five goals in this tournament heading into the final, controlled a high ball into the box perfectly onto her left foot, before nutmegging Daniela Arias and inching the ball just past Tapia into the far bottom corner. A gorgeous goal for the joint top-scorer of the Copa, and things were level at two a piece:

Then came Marta. Brazil's all-time, well, everything—most appearances, most goals, most trophies—had retired from international play after last summer's Olympics, but she came back into the fold in May and locked up a spot in the Copa squad. At the age of 39, Marta isn't the world-beater she once was, and she started the final on the bench, watching as her team twice came back from a goal down to equalize. After her substitution in the 82nd minute, Marta saw Brazil go down again, thanks to Mayra Ramírez's 88th-minute goal, set up by a nice Caicedo run and pass. For eight minutes, it looked like Colombia would finally summit this specific mountaintop, winning its first Copa and beating the continental final boss (Brazil has won nine of the 10 Copas América) along the way. But then, Marta. Oh, Marta:

Even aside from the context, this is one of the best goals Marta has ever scored, and she's scored some doozies. It doesn't get much better than stepping up to the ball from 25 yards out and one-timing a rocket shot into the net. Putting it into the situation's context—a last-second equalizer of a tournament final—only makes it more incredible. Let's see it again from a different angle:

With that came extra time, and Marta wasn't done. In the 105th minute, Angelina hit a ball into the box to an uncovered Marta, who looked to head it before adjusting at the last second and letting it fall to her foot, which she used to slot the ball home. Whether that bit of timing was accidental or on-purpose trickery, it did enough to confound Colombia keeper Katherine Tapia:

That goal gave Brazil its first lead of the game, but Colombia didn't collapse. In the 115th minute, Leicy Santos lined up a free kick from just above the semi-circle and gave Marta's regular time equalizer a run for its money, hitting the set piece with perfect power and precision to beat Lorena and give Colombia life once more:

The penalties did not really live up to the standard set by those two stunning goals, but they definitely did live up to the drama that preceded it.

Poor penalties have been the theme of this international soccer summer, and Brazil-Colombia followed suit; for every well-struck shot there were two weak ones. Even Marta couldn't break the curse, as her penalty was saved by Tapia. In the end, Brazil's Luany scored her penalty, the team's fifth in seven tries, and then Lorena saved Carabalí's attempt with a save to the goalie's right, giving Brazil the win and the trophy:

What does one even say after such a barrage of action and intensity? Both teams appeared to have won and lost the match multiple times, and while penalty kicks are, in my opinion, always an unsatisfying way to settle an important match, the see-saw nature of the spot kicks fit the narrative of this blockbuster final. There simply was nothing to separate these two sides, save for one massive Lorena save to clinch it, and even if and when Marta does stay fully retired from the national team (will she be able to resist the 2027 World Cup, hosted by Brazil?), the future of South American soccer appears to be in safe hands and feet with these two teams. But for one Saturday afternoon in Quito, Marta and Brazil had to step up and show Colombia and the rest of CONMEBOL who still runs the continent. All it took was a heart-stopping equalizer among many other moments of individual glory for everyone to remember that Marta, who was crowned the Golden Ball winner as the best player of the tournament, is the best player to ever play this sport.