Brazil will meet USA in the Olympics Women’s Football final after beating Spain 4-2 in the semifinals of the competition staged on Tuesday evening.
Disaster hit Spain early on as the ball was played back to goalkeeper Cata Coll, who mishit her clearance into Brazil’s Priscilla and rebounded off Irene Paredes and into the back of the net.
Spain slowly recovered and began to get a foothold into the game, but just as Brazil shocked them at the start of the first half, they did the same at the end of it too. A fantastic cross from Yasmin was steered home by Gabi Portilho deep into added time, sending Spain in at the break with plenty to think about.
Into the second half and Spain was not looking like their usual selves, and was punished by a dominant Brazil when Adriana finally nodded home after her initial shot hit the bar and had pinged around the box.
Nerves were jangling when Salma Paralluelo headed home from a corner, and shortly afterwards an Alexia Putellas effort was tipped onto the crossbar by goalkeeper Lorena.
Brazil were just too good on this occasion and another defensive lapse saw Kerolin sealed their place in the final by rolling the ball under the legs of Cata Coll. Paralluelo added a consolation tap-in from a corner deep into added time, with the officials opting to play an added 15 minutes on top of the 90.
USA beat Germany 1-0 in the other semifinals played on Tuesday.