While Neymar has vaulted to colossal success around the world, with Barcelona paying a transfer fee of more than 57 million Euros to acquire him two years ago, Marta has struggled for the past eight years to find a league that could support her. Pele himself referred to her as “Pele with a skirt.” Brazilians couldn’t resist what Marta could do on the field. The newspaper headlines read “MARTA MARTA MARTA.” Pele himself referred to Marta as “Pele with a skirt.” She was named the FIFA World Player of the Year an unheard of five years in a row between 20. But ginga, it turns out, overpowers prejudice: Brazilians couldn’t resist what Marta could do on the field. (The law stated that “women will not be allowed to practice sports which are considered incompatible to their feminine nature.”) The conception that women playing soccer is “unnatural” hasn’t entirely faded. While women’s soccer had been popular in the early 1900s, with up to 40 women’s teams in Rio de Janeiro alone, it was banned in 1941, an embargo that wasn’t lifted until 1979. In the 2007 World Cup semi-final against the United States, a then-21-year-old named Marta backheel-juggled the ball around one side of the defender, and pirouetted around the other before scoring, marking one of the first moments Brazil became aware of another magician in its midst.īefore Marta, futebol feminino was nearly unheard of. When the striker’s injured vertebra prevented him from playing in the semi-final, the country mourned the loss of its magician.īut Neymar isn’t the country’s only hope. The 7:1 loss against the German team felt like a reprimand from the angered pantheon-a sign Brazil should get back to the magic and beauty it’s known for.Īt that tournament, Neymar was the totem representing the ginga of the past his pedestrian teammates throwing his extraordinary ability into sharper focus. After more than a decade without a World Cup victory, Brazil forsook ginga in favor of a more aggressive determination to win at all costs, leading the World Cup in fouls committed. Even the spectacular failure of the Brazilian team at home felt otherworldly, with the squad too thoroughly ravaged for it not to have been fated. There’s even a word for the specific fusion of sorcery and skill embodied by so many of the nation’s players: ginga, the Portuguese term for a certain kind of sublime deftness on the pitch, something incorporating both the sway of hips and unfettered imagination.ĭuring the 2014 World Cup, the tournament felt similarly enchanted, with the endless goals in group play, the drastic reversals of fortune, and the impossible injury-time saviors. The team’s best finish was runner-up in 1996.Ĭhina’s squad for Tokyo is largely inexperienced, with only five players left over from the roster for the 2016 Games.When it comes to soccer, Brazil is known worldwide as the land of the magicians. The Chinese were making their fifth Olympic appearance. 15, qualified as runner-up at the Asian qualifying tournament. team that won the gold medal at the 2012 London Games.Ĭhina, ranked No. Beatriz closed out the rout with a goal in the 89th.īrazil was playing its first major tournament under Pia Sundhage, the former coach of both the U.S. Marta added her second goal in the 74th minute before Alves scored from the penalty spot. After her goal in the ninth minute, Debinha added another in the 22nd to put Brazil up 2-0. Debinha, Andressa Alves and Beatriz also scored.Ī six-time FIFA Player of the Year, Marta has 111 international goals, more than any Brazilian player, male or female. Marta finished with a pair of goals for Brazil, which is ranked No. RIFU, Japan (AP) - Marta became the first player to score in five straight Olympics and Brazil beat China 5-0 on Wednesday in the women’s soccer tournament.
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