![]() ![]() In one commercial, Marta bounces a soccer ball off her knee while hyping what she says are the seven rules of women's soccer, which include never giving up and playing like a woman. That's especially off the field, where she defies typecasts, like in ads for Avon, the cosmetics company. "She is not only a talented, brilliant player, the best we've ever had, but also she has been such an important voice in the women's game," Brazilian sports journalist Júlia Belas Trindade said in an interview with NPR. She has two Olympic silver medals she's been named FIFA's World Player of the Year six times and is one of the top-paid women's soccer stars in the world. Despite the disadvantages, Marta, now 37, has racked up nearly every other prize in professional soccer. Ranked eighth in the world, Brazil's national women's team has long been underfunded and undermined. But as Marta prepares for her sixth, and what she says will be her last, World Cup, it's unclear if the queen of soccer can finally bring the trophy home. ![]() She holds the record, 17, for most World Cup goals by a man or woman - even surpassing the Brazilian king of the sport, Pelé, with 12 and Ronaldo with 15. Ever since, Marta, as she's known, has never looked back and has played and scored in every Women's World Cup that followed. She scored three goals in that 2003 tournament played in the United States. Marta’s basic annual salary is less than Lionel Messi makes in a week.īut women’s football is moving forward in that regard and there have been few greater pioneers for the sport than Marta, whose only concern is to keep fighting for a better future for all the girls who want to follow in her footsteps.Marta and the Brazilian women's soccer team walk around the field greeting fans after a friendly match against Chile ahead of the World Cup, in Brasília, Brazil, on July 2.īRASÍLIA, Brazil - Two decades ago, at just 17 years old, Marta Vieira da Silva made her first World Cup soccer appearance. I always strive to maintain that drive to win - that’s something no athlete can do without - and also to represent all women with my role as UN Ambassador for Women.įor all her records and on- and off-field achievements, however, it is worth noting that even the Queen of the women’s game is yet to receive anything like the financial recognition of her male counterparts. “And I do the same for my club, Orlando Pride. And I embrace that mission now, committed to showing the younger players just how important it is to represent Brazil. “We’ve been working for that, though that’s not just because of me, but every teammate I’ve had for the Selecao and at club level, and all the people who have left a mark on my career. “I believe I have a very important mission, which is to represent women’s football”, Marta insists. And this year, Marta heads to the World Cup in France with her eyes set firmly on Miroslav Klose’s record of 16 goals on the biggest stage of them all.īut Marta’s achievements are not restricted to only her on-field heroics, She’s a UN Ambassador, and recently became the first woman to have her feet eternalised at the Maracana’s Walk of Fame. 15 of those goals arrived over four World Cup tournaments, surpassing a record that once belonged to former strikers Birgit Prinz and Abby Wambach. Marta’s personal achievements in the game remain unparalleled, with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi unable to match her six crowns, while even Pele cannot claim to have scored more goals for Brazil. Her life story is unmatched, having overcome each and every obstacle as she did.” “Everything we have achieved in the game came through her, even if women’s football existed before. “Marta is the biggest name in women’s football, she won so we could get to the level we are today”, says Thais Monteiro, an attacking midfielder for Grota de Niteroi. Just three years on, Marta was leading Brazil in her first World Cup. I joined the Selecao at an early age and then I went to play in Sweden.” Indeed, the future Queen of Football saw her life change drastically following that initial trial. “Everything in my career happened very fast. Marta was raised in Alagoas, but her legend was born one sunny Tuesday morning on the Guanabara Bay. She dribbled past every opponent on the pitch and hit goal after goal, leaving all those in attendance with the impression that they had just seen something very, very special. Aware of the chance she was being given, she played like… well, as she played like Marta. No sooner had Marta arrived did she find herself adrift on Ilha do Governador, participating in a trial for Vasco under the watchful eyes of Helena - then Vasco coach - and Meg, a former Brazil international goalkeeper who played at the 1996 Olympics. And it was there, in the Cidade Maravilhosa, where her life would change forever. The trip took just under three days, an epic beginning to the most epic of Brazilian fairy-tales. ![]()
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