The legendary soccer player Marta lived a sad farewell to the women’s World Cups on Wednesday when Brazil was eliminated from the tournament with a goalless draw against Jamaica.
With Marta as the starter, Brazil failed to break the lock on the Caribbean, who qualified for the round of 16 with France after their victory over Panama at the close of Group F.
Marta, 37, announced that this would be her last World Cup, a tournament in which she made her debut in 2003. “Not even in my worst nightmares did I dream of this World Cup,” Marta declared after the game, visibly hurt.
For Jamaica it was a historic moment by advancing to the round of 16 without conceding a single goalalthough he scored just one, against debuting Panama.
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Brazil couldn’t with the Jamaicans
La Canarinha established territorial control from the start of the match, with precautions due to the speed of the ‘Reggae Girlz’, especially due to the presence of their goalscorer Khadija Shaw.
Brazil repeatedly approached the goal in shots from Debinha, Ary Borges, Tamires and the captain Marta, in the match played in Melbourne before a large public, who mostly cheered on the Brazilians, in blue shirts.
The drop from the left side Tamires led to the best options for Brazil in the first half and warmed the hands of goalkeeper Rebecca Spencer.
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Jamaica, meanwhile, proposed a conservative game of containment and counterattack. He had the advantage of being able to advance to the round of 16 with a drawthanks to their 0-0 against France and their victory against Panama.
This explains why the defensive line of the Caribbean remained concentrated protecting their land, without venturing much to attack, a scheme that was effective against France to keep the score at zero.
“I think we played too slow to break through the Jamaican defense. They did a good job, but we couldn’t create many chances» to score, declared the Swedish-born coach Pia Sundhage at a press conference.
“We couldn’t get to the baseline, that’s what we look for when you have that kind of defense,” he added.
The entry of the ‘Empress’ Bia Zaneratto in the second half energized the Brazilian midfield, but Jamaica also strengthened its lock behind.
As the game drew to a close, Brazil’s dominance became stifling but also bland, their overwhelming control of the ball failing to translate into shots on Jamaican goal.
