Marta-inspired Brazil — 'we did it for her' — defies odds to reach women's football gold-medal final at Paris 2024
When Marta was shown a red card in Brazil’s final group game of Paris 2024, her dreams of winning an Olympic gold in women's football hung in the balance.
The South Americans had finished third in their respective table, made to suffer a waiting game to see whether or not they would progress to the knockout stages.
Results elsewhere fell in their favour, but they were facing an uphill battle against hosts France, without their captain and facing a side with home momentum on their side.
A late strike from Gabi Portilho served as the game-winner, sending this unassuming Brazil side through to the last four.
No matter what happened from here, they had extended Marta’s sixth and final Olympic Games, by ensuring a third-place playoff at the very minimum.
But they weren’t willing to settle.
Up against reigning world champions Spain in the semi-final, Arthur Elias’s side were emphatic as they picked apart the European favourites in a 4-2 thriller.
Many had Brazil down and out after a lacklustre showing in the group stages, but the willingness to see their legendary No. 10 out with a gold-medal match inspired a remarkable run of form.
This squad has grown up watching Marta, idolised her phenomenal career and relished in the chance to play alongside her — reaching the final was their way of repaying the incredible legacy the 38-year-old has blazed in her 22 years on the national team.
“Honestly, in these games without Marta, we did it for her,” said midfielder Angelina.
“We want to give her a really great send-off. It was a dream of mine to play with Marta, and now it’s a dream come true.
“To do it in the final in the Olympics, it’s just perfect.”
Marta: A legacy like no other
If you are a frequent watcher of women’s football, you will remember how it felt to watch Marta’s impassioned plea after Brazil were knocked out of the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup five years ago.
It came in the aftermath of a defeat to France in the quarter-finals, perhaps making the aforementioned victory against them all the more significant.
“Women’s football depends on you to survive,” Marta began, looking directly at the camera.
“There’s not going to be a Formiga forever, there’s not going to be a Marta forever, there’s not going be a Cristiane forever.
“We’re asking for support; you have to cry at the beginning so you can smile at the end.”
And she’s right. There will never be another like Marta.
The two-time silver medallist will hang up her boots at the end of the year, retiring from international football.
A figure synonymous with the women’s game and a true cornerstone of its growth, her legacy will never be replicated and history will look back on her career fondly.
It is almost impossible to encapsulate just what this icon of the game means to players, coaches and fans alike.
But they can show it — and that is exactly what her teammates have done for her at Paris 2024.
They left everything on the field to give their hero a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bow out as an Olympic champion.
It won’t be easy, up against a resolute United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) who have continually impressed in their first major tournament under the guidance of coach Emma Hayes.
But Brazil and Marta have never done things easy.
It is simply the most extraordinary story we are witnessing, one that will come to an end at the Parc des Princes in Paris on Saturday, 10 August.
Could the City of Love produce one last fairy tale and provide Marta with her magical end?