Going into their quarter-final clash with France, Brazil’s prospects looked bleak.

After two defeats on the bounce and with Marta suspended after her red card against Spain, they faced hosts France at Stade de la Beaujoire, which is known for being a cauldron of noise.

Yet this Brazil side, which has made Jogo Bonito its identity, has made sacrifice, defensive miserliness and concentration its main strengths.

Arthur Elias’s side did everything in their power to contain Delphine Cascarino and Marie-Antoinette Katoto, the spearheads of a dangerous French attack, who were roared on by the thunderous ‘Allez Les Bleues’ chants that rained down from the stands. Without Marta’s experience and magic, it looked like an uphill battle for Brazil.

For Brazil to stay in the game and hit France on the counter, it was critical to keep a clean sheet. But the coach’s plan came under threat when Tarciane fouled Cascarino inside the area with 12 minutes on the clock.

Brazil needed a first miracle to survive, and Lorena, their star player at the tournament so far, was the only one who could provide it. Sakina Karchaoui took the responsibility and as she put the ball on the spot, the whole stadium fell silent. It was Lorena against Karchaoui, Lorena against 39 thousand people, Lorena against the whole of France.

Despite all this, Brazil’s number one dived to her right and pulled off a magnificent stop to deny France the lead. “We’d already prepared for penalties. Coach Edson, Luciana, Taina and myself. We sat down together and analysed all the penalties. When it came to the penalty, I was very confident that I would save it. I concentrated hard in that moment. God blessed me and helped me save the penalty.”

Lorena’s save was the first positive sign on what looked like a difficult night for Brazil. However, in the second half they were dealt another blow. Rafaelle, one of the stars of the night and the team’s inspirational figurehead, was forced off injured. In the face of yet another problem, Brazil’s character and resilience came to the fore. France tried to take the game by the scruff of the neck, with Wendie Renard as a catalyst at the back, and pushed forward in search of victory.

Then Brazil produced their second miracle of the night. Adriana played a superb through-ball to Gabi Portilho, who chased it and forced a mistake from France’s backline, nicking the ball off the defenders to leave her one-on-one with Constance Picaud. Faced with the chance of a lifetime, Gabi made no mistake in front of goal, converting the winning goal of the game, which was more than just a goal to send them into the semi-final, were they will face Spain in a rematch of the group stage defeat.

The goal was also a relief after the many difficulties of the past few days, and a celebration of a country eager to win its first major tournament.

“It was very difficult to get here. I scored the goal and I’m very happy. I’m grateful to God, but if it wasn’t for my team giving me strength or because of the trust Arthur puts in me, I wouldn’t be here experiencing this moment and qualifying for the semi-final with Brazil,” Gabi Portilho said in a post-match interview as the fans left the stadium in a deafening silence.

It was Tamires, coming off the bench, who made the difference in one of the best moments in the history of Brazilian women’s football. “We improve every year. Everything we have gone through has taught us valuable lessons and helped us improve. The team is getting stronger and stronger mentally. It was that drive, that strength, that determination that we showed on the pitch today,” she told FIFA in a post-match interview in the press area.

The Brazilian version of mental toughness is the main virtue of a team that has yet to reach its footballing potential. “We have worked really hard, we’ve had a psychologist working with us, we have studied our opponents in detail,” explained Lorena, one of the heroines of the match. “Today we managed to play exactly the way Arthur had told us to play and we put in a fantastic performance against a top team.”

Arthur Elias, the mastermind behind the victory, was full of praise for his players. “I’m very proud of this Brazil side, who have represented our country in an exemplary manner with dedication and commitment. It’s a very recent process, but the reactions have always been positive.

“Today they deserved the victory. Keeping the team focused, always sticking to and believing in the game plan with confidence and the emotional balance they showed, is a source of great pride for me. We have made history. Brazil had never beaten France before and we’ve defeated them on their home soil.”

It was also a special moment for Marta, the icon who has been the driving force behind women’s football in Brazil and around the world. At her final Olympic Games, twenty years after winning a silver medal at Athens 2004, images of her crying as she was sent off against Spain went around the world. But her team-mates found another gear in her absence. They could not let that be the last image of their star player.

“Marta was very upset about the red card, but we had another reason to win this game. We had to do it for her and for everything she represents in world football,” said Tamires. “She didn’t deserve to end her Olympic career the way she could have if we had gone on to lose the match. Today we also played for her and for our whole family, for the people who support us so much and who know how hard it is to give up so many things and play every day and give our all to take Brazil to the level they deserve, which is at the top.”