By ANNE M. PETERSON AP Soccer Writer
MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Athenea del Castillo and Alexia Putellas both scored and Spain defeated Brazil 2-0 in an Olympic group finale that was spoiled for the Brazilians when captain Marta was sent off with red card late in the first half on Wednesday.
Spain and the United States had already secured spots in the quarterfinals going into the final group matches, but both teams had to wait until the day’s matches were over to know their knockout round opponents.
Marta, a six-time world player of the year playing in her sixth Olympics, was sent off the field in tears after a tackle on Spain’s Olga Carmona in first-half stoppage time.
The 38-year-old Brazilian has said that this will be her last major tournament with the national team. Marta has never won an Olympic or Women’s World Cup title with Brazil. The team came close twice, winning silver medals in both 2004 and 2008.
Brazil still had an opportunity to advance but needed help from other results later Wednesday.
Spain, making its Olympic debut in France, was vying to be the first team to win a gold medal after winning a Women’s World Cup. Del Castillo scored in the 68th minute to put Spain in front and Putellas added a goal late in stoppage time.
La Roja finished atop the group and heads to Lyon for the quarterfinals. Japan finished second with a 3-1 victory over Nigeria in Nantes.
Maika Hamano, Mina Tanaka and Hikaru Kitagawa all scored for Japan in the first half. Jennifer Echegini scored for Nigeria in the 42nd minute.
The top two teams in each of the three four-team groups in France get a spot in the quarterfinals, along with the top two third-place teams.
Canada denied
Defending Olympic champion Canada lost its bid to overturn a FIFA-ordered points deduction (6 points) for drone spying on an opponent.
Canada, which won its first two matches but earned no points from those victories, went into a late match against Colombia in Nice in need of a win to stand a chance of advancing.