It looked like England had one hand on the Finalissima trophy when Brazil forward Adriana rifled a fairly inoffensive low cross into the penalty area in the dying embers of stoppage time.
Mary Earps - who has cultivated an air of infallibility since staking her claim to the No. 1 shirt little more than 18 months ago - looked poised to make another routine save. But whether it was the restlessness of the 83,000-strong crowd, the barrage of Brazilian pressure or simply an error of judgement, the England goalkeeper let the ball squirm out of her grasp and into the path of Andressa Alves.
The substitute took full advantage of Earps' blunder, dispatching her right-footed effort with aplomb into the roof of the net. The faintest stirrings of consternation rumbled around Wembley and, in the blink of an eye, England's proud unbeaten record under Sarina Wiegman was under threat.
The fact that Brazil had deserved their late leveller was irrefutable. After a blistering first half in which Ella Toone had fired England ahead, the Lionesses' swashbuckling attacking exploits had given way to a more conservative second-half display. Pia Sundhage had made a raft of changes at half time, with Beatriz Zaneratto and Lauren making way for Adriana and Andressa and the Canarinhas abandoning their back five for the tried and trusted 4-4-2.
All of a sudden it was Brazil who looked more likely to find the back of the net, and Earps had to be at full stretch to keep out Geye's ferocious long-range effort, which was smartly palmed onto the top of the crossbar. Geyse was involved once again in the build-up to Brazil's equaliser; the Barcelona star feeding the ball through to Adriana in the 93rd minute.
And so the inaugural Women's Finalissima would have to be decided on penalties. It's a scenario that inspires a sense of dread in the pit of every England stomach.
Of course, the ghosts of Italia 90 and EURO 96 always loom large when the dreaded 'P-word' rears its head, but for the Lionesses too, shootouts have historically failed to bear fruit. In fact, England have never won a shootout in a major women's tournament, losing to France in the quarter-finals of the 2011 World Cup and to Sweden in the 1984 EUROs Final.
It was, perhaps, not the most encouraging record for England to muse on as they lined up on the centre circle on Thursday night. And maybe the palpable weight of expectation did take its toll, as it was the Lionesses who blinked first, with Letícia beating away Ella Toone's tame effort to make it advantage Brazil and crank up the anxiety levels inside Wembley.
It is at this juncture that England sides of the past may have crumbled. They had been so close to writing yet another glorious chapter into the annals of Sarina Wiegman's tenure, but this might just be one bridge too far.
Step up Mary Earps.
The Manchester United 'keeper had spoken candidly before the game about the trials and tribulations that have shaped the course of her career so far and how, less than two years ago, she feared her international career might be over.
When she accepted her Best Women's Goalkeeper award at FIFA’s The Best ceremony in Paris ealier this year, she dedicated it to "anyone who has ever been in a dark place" and thanked the people who had "picked [her] up off the kitchen floor" to help her achieve her dreams.
With that tenacity and hunger to prove people wrong in mind, it is perhaps little wonder that Earps quickly atoned for her earlier misstep by saving from Tamires to draw England level in the shootout. If she was at all fazed by the big occassion, it didn't show.
With every save, with every spot-kick, Earps whipped up the crowd until Wembley was a cauldron of England noise . But her actions were demonstrative of her psychological nous too; the 30-year-old making sure to collect the ball and hand it over to her teammate after each Brazilian penalty.
When Chloe Kelly slotted the decisive spot-kick after Brazil captain Rafaelle crashed her effort against the bar, she - along with the rest of her England teammates - ran straight to Earps. While the United 'keeper will undoubtedly be loathe to look back at the uncharacteristic error that preceded Brazil's equaliser, she certainly didn't let the mistake cloud her judgement in the decisive moments that followed.
And that ability to block out the noise and swiftly respond to adversity could prove vital if the Lionesses are to add a World Cup trophy to their European crown in the summer.
"We said 'we have to do a job here' and we were prepared. Before the Euros, we trained it a lot, we knew the plans. Now, we had to execute it," Wiegman told Sky Sports after Thursday's game.
"We had a circle and talked about the sequence we were going to take them and the players did really good and Mary (Earps) did well as well.
"It shows the team has resilience, we know the next step and we can't change what happens anymore so you have to move on. And they did that brilliantly."
There will be plenty more hurdles for Wiegman and her side to overcome if they are to get their hands on world football's greatest prize in little more than 100 days time. However, what Earps and her teammates accomplished against Brazil proves that, regardless of the challenges ahead, the Lionesses won't give up without a fight.
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