Brazil vs. Spain: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 Women’s Soccer World … – Bleacher Report

Brazil qualified for the knockout stages of the 2015 Women’s World Cup with a 1-0 win over Spain on Saturday, and if Costa Rica and South Korea draw in their Group E match, the South American giants will win the group after just two matches.

Andressa Alves scored the only goal of the match just before half-time, and while La Roja certainly deserved to get at least a point from this match, they’ll face a real battle to make it out of the group stages when they meet South Korea in their final match.

Fox Sports’ John Strong couldn’t hide his excitement of watching Marta and Veronica Boquete going head-to-head, as the two captains met at the midfield circle before kick-off:

Today is the game I immediately circled when we got our schedules in the winter: Brazil v Spain, Marta v Vero. 1pm PT on FS1

— John Strong (@StrongMLS) June 13, 2015

Brazil were favourites entering the match after their 2-0 win over South Korea, but Spain took control of possession early. The Europeans frustrated their opponents by working hard to get the ball back quickly and gave away little space out wide.

Natalia Pablos should have given La Roja the lead after just seven minutes, as she suddenly found herself alone in the back of the Brazilian defence. Steaming forward, she lost her calm and blasted a shot well wide of the target, to the horror of the Guardian‘s Andrew Jerell Jones:

Natalia Pablos with more atrocious finishing, had a firm chance there and dragged it well wide. #FIFAWWC

— Andrew Jerell Jones (@sluggahjells) June 13, 2015

Pablos was a nuisance for the Brazil defenders with her constant movement and provided the first real highlight of the match with a delightful nutmeg, but the ball ran away from her and harmlessly rolled out of play.

Brazil’s defence seemed to panic every time a cross flew into the box, and Rafaelle nearly kicked the ball into her own net while attempting to clear. Goalkeeper Luciana managed to keep it out of the net, but per football blogger Tim Stillman, the action came at a cost:

#BRA keeper Luciana hurts her shoulder landing on the hard pitch. Artificial pitches a real blight on this tournament

— Tim Stillman (@Stillberto) June 13, 2015

Despite their dominance, Spain couldn’t manage an early goal, and as time passed, Brazil started finding their rhythm more and more. Marta nearly found some space on the edge of the box, but her shot was blocked in the nick of time.

Alves wasn’t having the greatest of first halves, and she drew the attention of social media when she took a tumble and appeared to be in real pain after a duel. When the official didn’t produce the yellow card she so desired, she promptly got back up and continued as if nothing had happened:

Coming together between Putellas & Andressa Alves. Brazilian attacker drops to the ground, rolls around a bit & promptly gets back up.

— Eoin O’Callaghan (@EoinOCallaghan) June 13, 2015

Spain remained the better team, but in the final minutes of the first half, the Brazilians put some real pressure on their goal. Stopper Ainhoa Tirapu made a meal out of a corner, and Marta nearly bent the next one in straight from the flag.

Out of nowhere, the Selecao took the lead, and ironically, it was Alves who scored the goal. Celia Jimenez did well to bail out her goalkeeper, chasing down a ball that seemed destined for the back of the net, but Alves did well to follow through and tap home the clearance.

It was a moment of brilliance from Alves, but Fox Soccer felt bad for the Spain team, who had been the better team by far up until that point:

#FWWConFOX HT: Brazil 1, Spain 0. Alves with a crucial late goal to snap the deadlock. Heartbreak for Spain, who had been better.

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 13, 2015

The official signaled for half-time almost immediately after, and Brazil took all of the momentum with them into the dressing room.

Determined to capitalise on their advantage, Brazil came out with more intensity in the second half, and while their possession of the ball didn’t immediately lead to any chances, they managed to limit Spain’s touches and looked far more comfortable at the back. 

Alves remained the most dangerous of Brazil’s forwards, and per The Football Sack, she came close to doubling her tally when she blasted into the side netting from a tight angle:

Alves hits it wide into the side netting. #BRA playing some nice football right now in attempts to stop the mexican wave #FIFAWWC

— The Football Sack (@TheFootballSack) June 13, 2015

Tirapu looked shaky on some of the early crosses, but she produced a fine save on Alves to redeem herself, as Spain were starting to open themselves up to the counter attack. La Roja tried to beat Brazil with long, looping crosses, but the Selecao had little difficulty defending those and tried to launch the counter as soon as they could.

Priscila Borja was introduced midway through the second half to give Spain another attacking presence, and she immediately made a positive contribution, almost setting up Pablos near the back post after a great run. 

On the other end of the pitch, Formiga should have doubled Brazil’s lead after great work from Marta, but she directed her effort wide of the post. 

Boquete was nearly invisible throughout the match, but she nearly had the chance to bring La Roja level just before full-time. Timing her run perfectly, she took far too long to get the ball under control, allowing the Brazil defenders to recover and clear the danger.

That would be the final real chance of the match, as Brazil hung onto their lead and clinched their spot in the next round.

Speaking to FIFA’s official website, Boquete and Ruth Garcia were well aware Marta wouldn’t be the only threat to Spain’s chances of winning this match, as they said:

We’ve mainly discussed the fact that we have to watch all their veteran players. They’ve got bags of experience and the skill to decide matches with the smallest of details.

Their experience gives them something extra but they’ve also got a tremendous amount of quality too. And not just Marta. They’re very strong in every department.

Those words turned out to be true, as it was Alves who was by far the best player on the pitch and constantly troubled the defence in the second half.

Brazil will face Costa Rica in their final group-stage match, and depending on the latter’s result against South Korea, the Selecao could have already locked up the top spot in Group E by then. Spain still have a chance of surviving the group stages, but they’ll need a big win over the Koreans to finish second or among the best third-placed teams. 

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