Before the decisive last group game against Jamaica, Brazil’s exceptional player Marta gave an insight into her emotional world on Tuesday (01.08.2023).
Brazilian soccer icon Marta has reacted emotionally to her approaching departure from the World Cup stage. “Do you know what’s good? When I started there were no idols in women’s football that I could hold on to. It’s different now,” said the 37-year-old on Tuesday with tears in her eyes.
Brazil needs a win against Jamaica (12:00 CEST/live stream on sportschau.de) in Melbourne on Wednesday (08/02/2023) to safely reach the round of 16. The Selecao – and thus also the six-time world footballer – has never won the title before. The tournament in Australia and New Zealand will be her last attempt, Marta had announced before the World Cup.
Children want to be like Marta
Role models like herself would not have existed for her as a child. “How could it have been if women’s football wasn’t shown? How could I have realized that I could make the national team and become a role model myself? Now I go out on the street and people stop me. Parents say to me: ‘My daughter loves you, she wants to be just like you,'” said the former exceptional player.
Marta struggled with poverty and sexism in her youth, most recently she fought her way back to the World Cup after the worst injury of her career. There she only came into play against Panama (4-0) and France (1-2) in the closing stages. Marta had been out for almost a year with a cruciate ligament tear.
Despite the lack of a title, a great World Cup career
She already has records in abundance: With 17 World Cup goals, she even surpasses the men’s record set by Miroslav Klose (16), as one of only three players, she scored in five different World Cup tournaments, she scored 108 goals in 156 international matches – more than the male superstars Pelé or Neymar.
2023-08-01 21:01:12
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