La defensa del equipo rival perdió el balón, y mi hermana casi gritó de emoción.

In Spanish, la defensa can mean the defense as a unit or line, not just one individual defender. It works like a collective noun here.

So la defensa del equipo rival means the opposing team’s defense as a whole.

If you said los defensas, that would usually mean the defenders as individual players.

• La defensa perdió el balón = the defensive line / defense lost the ball
• Los defensas perdieron el balón = the defenders lost the ball

Because de + el contracts to del in Spanish.

So:

• de + el = del

That is why la defensa del equipo rival means the defense of the opposing team.

This contraction is required in normal Spanish. The main exception is when el is part of a proper name, such as de El Escorial.

Here rival means opposing or opponent’s.

In el equipo rival, it describes equipo, so it acts like an adjective: the rival/opposing team.

It does not change here because equipo is singular and masculine.

Forms of rival:

• el equipo rival = the opposing team
• los equipos rivales = the opposing teams
• la jugadora rival = the opposing female player
• las jugadoras rivales = the opposing female players

So it does change in the plural, but the singular masculine and feminine forms are both rival.

Both perdió and gritó are in the preterite, which is commonly used for completed actions in the past.

• perdió = lost
• gritó = shouted/yelled

In this sentence, the actions are seen as specific events:

• the defense lost the ball
• my sister almost shouted

The imperfect forms would suggest background, habit, or an ongoing past action:

• perdía = was losing / used to lose
• gritaba = was shouting / used to shout

So the preterite fits better because the sentence is about two concrete moments.

Casi means almost, and it usually goes directly before the word or phrase it modifies.

Here it modifies gritó:

• casi gritó = she almost shouted

That placement is very natural in Spanish.

Compare:

• Mi hermana casi gritó = My sister almost shouted
• Casi mi hermana gritó = awkward / changes the focus in an unusual way

So in most normal sentences, casi goes right before the verb or expression it affects.

De emoción means with excitement, out of excitement, or literally from emotion/excitement, depending on context.

In this sentence:

• gritó de emoción = she shouted out of excitement

This de + noun structure is common in Spanish to explain the cause of a reaction:

• llorar de alegría = to cry with joy
• temblar de miedo = to tremble with fear
• gritar de dolor = to scream in pain

So de emoción explains why she almost shouted.

Spanish often uses the definite article more than English does.

So perdió el balón literally means lost the ball, and that is the normal way to express it.

In sports contexts, Spanish usually includes the article with objects like:

• pasar el balón
• controlar el balón
• perder el balón

Even if English might sometimes say lost possession or simply lost the ball, Spanish normally keeps el here.

The comma helps separate two related but distinct actions:

• La defensa del equipo rival perdió el balón
• y mi hermana casi gritó de emoción

In Spanish, a comma before y is not always necessary, but it can be used when:

• the two parts are long
• the subject changes
• the writer wants a clearer pause

Here, the subject changes from la defensa del equipo rival to mi hermana, so the comma sounds natural and helps readability.

In modern standard Spanish, you normally use a possessive adjective like mi without an article before it.

So:

• mi hermana = my sister

Not:

• la mi hermana ❌

Spanish uses mi, tu, su, nuestro, etc. directly before the noun:

• mi casa
• tu libro
• su coche

Older or regional forms with an article can exist in very specific contexts, but for standard modern Spanish, mi hermana is correct.

Yes. Gritar can be translated in several ways depending on context:

• to shout
• to yell
• to scream

In this sentence, casi gritó de emoción suggests a strong emotional reaction, so almost screamed with excitement or almost yelled with excitement could also fit.

The exact English choice depends on tone:

• shouted = neutral
• yelled = a bit stronger or louder
• screamed = strongest

Yes, and that is completely normal in Spanish.

Spanish often leaves out subject pronouns when the verb ending already shows who is doing the action.

Here:

• perdió = he/she/it lost
• gritó = he/she/it shouted

The sentence gives the subjects as nouns instead:

• La defensa del equipo rival perdió el balón
• mi hermana casi gritó de emoción

So you do not need ella or ésta before the verbs. Spanish does this much more often than English.