Marta was the first woman to leave footprints in Maracanã's cement
In July 2007, Marta scored twice at Rio's Maracanã stadium to beat the United States and win the Pan American Games before 68,000 fans. Afterwards her footprints were pressed into cement at the ground, an honour no woman had received before. Brazilians already had a nickname ready for her: Rainha, the Queen.
Born in 1986, Marta was spotted at 14 by the coach Helena Pacheco and turned professional with Vasco da Gama in 2000, only for the club to fold two years later. After a spell with a small club in Minas Gerais, she moved to Umeå in Sweden in 2004 and immediately helped it win the UEFA Women's Cup, scoring three goals across the two legs of an 8–0 aggregate final. She went on to collect seven Swedish league titles with various teams, often finishing at or near the top of the scoring charts.
Her club career became a tour of leagues that kept collapsing beneath her. In the United States she joined the Los Angeles Sol, which folded; then FC Gold Pride, which also folded; then the Western New York Flash, with whom she won the 2011 title before the league itself cancelled its next season. Back in Sweden, Tyresö paid her about 400,000 dollars a season through outside sponsors, won a first league title with her, and then pulled out of competition over money problems. In between she made short loan returns to Brazil, winning the Copa Libertadores with Santos.
She finally found stability at the Orlando Pride, joining in 2017. Despite a torn knee ligament in 2022, she was the club's first player to hit a century of appearances and, in 2024, won her first NWSL titles, lifting both the regular-season Shield and the championship.
Internationally, her numbers are staggering. She is Brazil's record scorer with 122 goals and holds the Women's World Cup record of 17. She was the first footballer, male or female, to find the net in five separate World Cups and in five Olympics running, and she won Olympic silver in 2004, 2008 and 2024. At the 2007 World Cup she took both the Golden Ball and Golden Boot. Named FIFA World Player of the Year six times, she is considered by many the greatest female footballer ever.
Source: Marta (footballer)
