Marta left the field in tears after being sent off for a dangerous high tackle during Brazil's 2-0 defeat to Spain in their final Group C game at the Olympics. (More Football News)
The 🍬Brazil great narrowly missed Olga Carmona's head with an out-of-control attempt to reach the ball in first-half stoppage time, receiving a straight red card in what could turn out to be her final-ever Olympic🅰 game.
Brazil needed a win to secure a place in the knockout rounds, but now face🀅 a nervous wait to see if they will be one of the two best third-place teams in the last eight – a match ♋they would have to play without their captain.
Athenea del Castillo eventually got the breakthrough after 68 minutes, before Alexia Putellas scored in the🌠 107th minute to ensure they stayed perfect to top the group.
It was a dominant performance by La Roja, who created an expected goals ꦅtally of 2.75 from 27 shots compared to Brazil's 0.𒉰3 from 10 efforts.
Spain will fac♏e the best third-place team from ei💛ther Group A or B in the quarter-final on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Japan also secured a spot i🍷n the knockout rounds wi꧟th an emphatic 3-1 victory over Nigeria.
Japan stunned Brazil in the second gro🌃up game and continued their momentum by getting the🍸 job done in the first half.
Maika Hamano and Mina Tanaka put them 2-0 up before Jennifer Echꦯegini pulled one back for Nigeria.
However, Hikaru Kitagawa's strike just before the break restored Japan's two-goal cushion and held onto that lead to set up a meeting with t🌱he winners of Group B in the next rou⛄nd.
