Marta, the Brazilian wonder
2023-02-17
More than 20 years of experience in professional football, one of the best players of all time, undisputed star of the Brazilian national women’s team and a great winner: Marta Vieira da Silva celebrates her birthday.
She made her professional debut in 2000 at Vasco Da Gama, in Rio de Janeiro, then played for Santa Cruz, in Minas Gerais. Her technical ability and incredible quality as a player drew attention of European football and she travelled to Sweden to wear Umeå IK’s jersey.
She made her first appearance with the Brazilian national team in 2003, despite having played the FIFA World Cup with the U-19 team a year earlier. Her achievements with the yellow jersey are worthy of a legend, the most important being the three CONMEBOL America Cup titles in 2003, 2010 – edition in which she was top scorer – and 2018.
In addition, the star won two gold medals at the Pan American Games and two silver medals at the Olympic Games. She was also an important part of the Brazilian team that finished second at the 2007 FIFA World Cup in China. She is the all-time top scorer for the Brazilian national team.
The titles won by Marta at club level are countless, but the 2009 CONMEBOL Libertadores, which she won with Santos, and the UEFA Champions League won with Umeå IK in the 03/04 season stand out.
Nominated six times as the best player in the world by FIFA , she is the top scorer in the history of FIFA World Cups, considering both women’s and men’s competitions, with 17 goals.