Marta Magic Causes Colombian Heartbreak

The evergreen Marta added to her legendary status with a game-changing contribution in the Copa América final. (Photo by Franklin Jacome/Getty Images)

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For the third time in its last five editions, the Copa América Femenina was held in Ecuador. The entire tournament was held in just one city this time around, namely Quito. Organisational and logistical challenges affected the teams in what appeared to be a “disregard for women’s football”, in the words of Brazilian midfielder Ary Borges. Most notably, they were made to warm up in cramped indoor spaces prior to the first couple of rounds of fixtures, with the pitch’s condition cited as the reason.

Nevertheless, the players delivered on the field to produce some enthralling action, which was capped off by an unforgettable finale.

Group stage

Argentina topped Group A as expected, and they did it with four wins out of four. However, it was not all smooth sailing for La Albiceleste as they needed late winners in each of their first three matches. Florencia Bonsegundo scored the winner against Uruguay with less than 15 minutes left on the clock, but a more dramatic game was to follow as Chile’s early opener was only cancelled out in the 75th minute before Aldana Cometti’s 90th-minute winner. Yamila Rodríguez struck very late on against Peru, paving the way for a more comfortable 2-0 win over Ecuador in the final group game with progression to the knockouts already secured.

There was a lot to play for behind them as Ecuador’s 2-2 draw with Uruguay in the tournament opener set the stage for a three-way fight for the remaining semi-final spot. Peru were the only team not seriously involved as they went home pointless, so Chile’s win over the hosts in the penultimate round placed them in pole position.

All La Roja had to do was avoid defeat against Uruguay, who had done well to stay in the hunt despite boycotting training in the lead up to the tournament as a means of protest against inadequate support from their football association over basic things like training facilities and wages. On the field, they delivered at crunch time with a 3-0 win over Chile to reach the semi-finals for just the second time in tournament history.

The two tournament favorites advanced comfortably from Group B. Brazil scored 12 goals and conceded just one, while Colombia recovered from a goalless draw against Venezuela with emphatic wins over Paraguay and Bolivia. The latter had a torrid time as they lost all four games and let in 25 goals, though La Guaraníes otherwise impressed as they notched up six points. 17-year-old Claudia Martínez certainly caught the eye as she netted six times and finished as the tournament’s joint top-scorer.

Knockouts

Argentina put up a serious fight against Colombia in the first semi-final, even starting the game on the front-foot thanks to some disciplined and well-drilled work out of possession. Las Cafeteras always had the potential to pose problems and showed more of it after the half-time break, but no goals were scored. With no extra time, the match went straight to a penalty shoot-out. Saves from either keeper in succession added to the drama, so Eliana Stábile’s miss proved decisive as Argentina bowed out.

Brazil had no such troubles in their match against Uruguay as they raced to a two-goal lead in 13 minutes. They were firmly in control throughout, ultimately notching up a 5-1 win to join Colombia in the final and the 2028 Olympics in the process. Uruguay would lose on penalties to Argentina after an entertaining 2-2 draw in the third-place match, but an even more eventful match was to follow.

Colombia sought a first title against eight-time champions Brazil, who preserved their record of playing in every single Copa América final. The challengers got off to a good start and went on to open the scoring through young star Linda Caicedo, taking the game in a different direction than the scrappy goalless draw the two teams had played out at the end of the group stage. Brazil equalised with a penalty on the stroke of half-time and took the initiative on the other side of the break, but suffered a setback due to a freak own goal. Amanda Gutierres levelled the scores in the 80th minute, setting up a thrilling conclusion. Mayra Ramírez surely must have thought she won it with her strike in the 88th minute, but Marta had other ideas as she did this at the very end of stoppage time:

The Orlando Pride forward found the back of the net once more about midway through the extra time period, but Colombia were not done. They pushed for an equaliser in the second half of extra time and got one with just five minutes to spare through Leicy Santos, heading to penalties once again. This shoot-out was even more dramatic as Brazil blinked first, Colombia failed to score two in a row, and Marta’s potential winner was stopped by Katherine Tapia. Lorena had the last word as she saved Jorelyn Carabalí’s attempt, condemning Colombia to a fourth final defeat in the last five Copas América.