The “queen” of soccer, the Brazilian Marta, does not yet have a crown. and conquer it world Cup in Australia and New Zealand it doesn’t seem like an easy thing, even for this woman used to records and challenges.
The number 10 jersey Selectionconsidered the best player in history, will compete in her sixth and last World Cup (July 20 to August 20) at the age of 37 and after overcoming the worst injury of her career.
She will face the tournament without knowing if she will be in the starting line-up and as the only major highlight of Brazil, after the absence of two other legends: midfielder Formiga, retired from the national team, and striker Cristiane, discarded by Swedish coach Pia Sundhage.
The greatest scorer in the history of the World Cups (17 goals, one more than the German Miroslav Klose) will have to lead a renewed and collectively strengthened team on the field, but which, in the face of the power of rivals such as the United States, Germany and Sweden, will not go in as a favorite to win its first Cup.
“She’s probably not as fast as she used to be, she doesn’t dominate the game like she did in the 2008 Olympics, but she’s very important. Just her presence,” said Sundhage.
However, it will not be the first time that Marta Vieira da Silva, Brazil’s top scorer, with 122 goals in 186 games, more than the 77 goals scored by Pelé and Neymar, will face a tough challenge.
a life of struggle
In her hometown, Dois Riachos, in Alagoas, she heard since she was a child that “it wasn’t normal” for a girl to play soccer.
Some neighbors asked the mother, who was rarely present at home due to her multiple jobs supporting four children alone, to stop her from playing this “macho” sport.
One coach even preferred to withdraw his players from competitions rather than allow them to face a woman.
“He dribbled everyone forwards, backwards, to one side, to the other. He seemed to be flying”, recalled the former goalkeeper Meg, his partner when he arrived at Vasco, in Rio de Janeiro, at the age of 14, to the website Dibrators.
At the time, few could have imagined that this young football fan would become one of the sport’s global faces, with six awards for the best female player in the world, second only to Argentine star Lionel Messi (7) and surpassing Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo (5).
The street naked and the male uniforms on his skinny body ended up forging the spirit of overcoming what ‘O rei’, three-time world champion with the Selection, called “Pelé in skirts”.
“You have to cry at the beginning, to smile at the end”, she said after the elimination in the round of 16 (2-1) against hosts France in the 2019 World Cup, where she surpassed Klose as the greatest scorer in history.
In addition to the French, Jamaica and Panama will also be in Group F in the Cup of Australia and New Zealand.
Closer and closer, Brazil! Only 🔟 days left until our World Cup debut!
Let’s go together #ForFirstStar! ⭐️ 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/MS9uofXtit
— Women’s National Football Team (@SelecaoFeminina) July 14, 2023
flag of equality
Her recognition is usually linked to her success with the national team, but Marta also stood out in clubs, winning the European Women’s Champions League with Swedish team Umea, in 2004, months after playing her first World Cup, aged 17.
Afterwards, he returned to Brazil, to Santos, where he won the first Copa Libertadores Feminina, in 2009. And then he settled in the United States and triumphed.
His trajectory with the national team had more disappointments than his individual successes, with three finals lost: the World Cup in China-2007 and the Olympics in Athens-2004 and Beijing-2008.
Despite having won three Copa Américas (2003, 2010 and 2018), he did not play in the most recent one, won by his teammates in Colombia in 2022, due to a ligament injury in his right knee suffered while defending his club, Orlando Pride (USA). , which kept her sidelined for almost a year.
“It’s the first time I’ve been away for so long. I suffered a lot,” he said, as he assisted on his return to the pitch, in February, in Brazil’s 1-0 victory over Japan, in the SheBelieves Cup.
At the time, she had already established herself as an activist for gender equality, a role she played like never before in the 2019 World Cup.
At that World Cup in France, Marta also asked her colleagues for more effort to remain competitive when she, Formiga and Cristiane no longer play for the national team.
Since that tournament, she has worn boots without sponsorship from sports brands, to raise awareness of the difference they pay men and women.
“We have to keep fighting,” said the most famous woman to carry a ’10’ on her back.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
Kingston is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
