While Brazil will not be able to call on Marta for their quarter-final clash with France in the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament, A Seleção will go into the match with one of the competition’s most in-form goalkeepers.
Lorena has produced a series of impressive displays at Paris 2024, making several vital contributions to help her team reach the knockout phase.
Brazil suffered consecutive defeats in Group C – scraping through to the last eight as one of the best third-placed teams – but Lorena has not been seen as culpable. Quite the opposite, in fact. After keeping a clean sheet in Brazil’s 1-0 win over Nigeria, she helped them avoid even bigger margins of defeat against Spain – when Brazil were down to 10 players for the whole second half – and Japan, when she saved a penalty.
Sol Farias, the Gremio goalkeeping coach who has worked with Lorena since 2019, told FIFA why Brazil may be favourites if their clash with France goes to penalties: “Lorena has always enjoyed working hard. We always study the penalty-takers but she is able to read their body movements very well.”
Standing at six feet tall, Lorena’s ability to claim high balls is another valuable asset. France will pose a clear aerial threat from dead-ball situations, with towering defender Wendie Renard a particular danger. Indeed, the last meeting between the two sides, in the group stage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™, Les Bleues came out 2-1 winners through two headed goals.
Lorena’s performances have been all the more impressive given this is her first major competition. She was set to feature at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™, but an anterior cruciate ligament injury, sustained in March of last year, meant she had to watch from home.
“Unfortunately, I ended up missing a great tournament in 2023 but I am very happy to be back and helping the team”, said Lorena after the Nigeria win.
Having recovered from that setback, Gremio goalkeeping coach Foria believes she is now performing better that ever. “Regardless of the results [of the remaining games at the Olympics], she has been outstanding. She is resilience personified.
“Our dream was for her to play at the World Cup. She suffered an injury that has a long recovery period, so it was really tough. Coming back after rupturing an anterior cruciate ligament requires a lot of patience. Lorena has always been very dedicated and disciplined. I had absolutely no doubt that she would continue to be a high-level athlete but she came back even better. Seeing her fulfilling a dream of playing at the Olympics makes me very happy.”
