“But now it’s clear we’re not dependent on her. “In years past, the major concern was that Brazil was completely reliant on Marta,” says Viana. The general consensus among pundits is that this will be Marta’s role during the World Cup - a magician with an eye for the killer pass, to be used to unlock defences in the last 30 minutes of matches.Īs such, if Brazil are to win the 2023 World Cup, the team will have to do so without Marta on the pitch for the majority of its matches. “Then Marta was brought on and she set up the winning goal.” “In the group match against Japan, we were struggling to find the final pass to create clear chances,” Viana recalls. The best example of what today’s Marta can offer to the Brazilian national team, says Viana, came in this year’s SheBelieves Cup, the invitational friendly tournament hosted annually in the United States. With Brazil set to play Panama, France and Jamaica in its Group F matches, there is much discussion in Brazil as to how Marta will be used in the tournament. “It’s a really difficult injury to come back from.” ‘A magician’ “She was out for an entire year,” says Viana. That was until 2022, when she tore her anterior cruciate ligament in April playing for her club side, Orlando Pride. Throughout her long career, Marta was lucky not to suffer serious injuries. “Over the years she’s lost that, and she’s had to adapt her game.” “In her prime, her main attribute was her acceleration,” says Viana. She is unlikely to feature in the starting lineup against Panama, and it remains unclear exactly which function she will play during this World Cup. No one could get near her.”īut now, at 37 years old, Marta plays a decidedly different role in the Brazilian national team. “When I saw Marta breezing past her opponents, my eyes shone. The games were shown in the school canteen and I’d cut class to watch them,” she tells Al Jazeera. “I was in elementary school when Brazil’s women reached the Olympic final in 2004. That’s huge for representation.”Īmanda Viana, women’s football pundit at Planeta Futebol Feminino, was a part of the first generation of Brazilians to be blown away by Marta’s talents. “Suddenly, the greatest ever women’s footballer was Brazilian. “After the ban, Marta’s importance and prestige as a global figure helped the game in Brazil,” explains Michelle Silva, women’s football expert and journalist at Brazilian sport radio station Esporte Band. Marta (10) works the ball in front of Argentina midfielder Clarisa Huber The sport was illegal in the country until the mid-1980s, and Marta was Brazil’s first women’s football superstar. Marta’s influence on women’s football in Brazil cannot be understated. Neither “Queen Marta” nor the Brazilian national team – so historically successful in the men’s game – have won a world championship, something the current squad hope to change this year in Australia and New Zealand. The major gap in the glittering resume of Marta Vieira da Silva’s 23-year career, however, is precisely a World Cup trophy. Sao Paulo, Brazil – If Marta comes off the bench and takes to the field for Brazil’s Women’s World Cup opener against Panama on Monday, it would mark her sixth and final involvement in the premier competition of women’s football.Īlong with her six World Player of the Year awards, the remarkable feat is set to cement Marta’s place as one of – if not the greatest – women ever to play the sport.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |