![]() ![]() Brazilian players on eastern Europe clubs make much more than Marta without making appearances for the Selecao, as the national team is known. “It’s not close," says her manager, Fabiano Farah, who used to represent Brazil men’s team star Ronaldo. What she isn’t, her agent says, is highly paid. She’s arguably one of the greatest ever in the sport. 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 has also been league champion six times in Sweden, where she plays for Rosengård, and twice in the US. ![]() 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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