In one of the greatest games in the history of women's soccer, Brazil beat Colombia on penalties in the final of the Copa América to secure another title in the Brazilian team's trophy cabinet. Marta didn't have the impact she had hoped for throughout the game, but she allowed Brazil to go into extra time on penalties after scoring in a match that ended 4-4.
Brazil struggled in the first half due to poor choices by their coach (Arthur Elias) and Colombia took advantage to take the lead through Linda Caicedo, one of the main revelations of women's soccer in South America. However, Brazil made substitutions before the break and equalized thanks to Angelina's goal from the penalty spot.
Everything looked as if Brazil would have a quiet second half with a much more aggressive style of play, but Colombia took advantage of Tarciane's fatal error, an attempted backheel to Lorena that ended in an absolutely bizarre own goal. Brazil's mental state had dropped considerably and Linda Caicedo almost wrapped up the win, but ended up shooting wide after taking the ball away from goalkeeper Lorena.
Brazil counted on Marta's help when it needed it most
But it was precisely at the moment of greatest difficulty that Marta's star shone for Brazil. In the 95th minute, in the last move of the game, Angelina kicked the ball into the box and Marta got the rest of it, hitting a powerful first-time shot to take the game into extra time, when the Colombian team were already celebrating their title in the technical area.
And with Brazil on a roll at the start of extra time, the top scorer in the history of women's soccer shone once again. Angelina delivered a left-footed cross and Marta surged into the box to side-foot home the winner. The only reason it wasn't the winning goal was because Linda Caicedo was fouled close to the box and Leicy Santos hit a stunning strike into the corner to take the game to penalties.
It's true that Marta had the chance to score the winning goal from the fifth spot-kick, but she missed, making it easy for goalkeeper Tapia to save. However, goalkeeper Lorena saved Carabalí's shot in the seventh to give Brazil the historic title, with Marta being named the best player of the Copa América by Conmebol.