Wednesday 10 June 2015

Brazil's Marta became the all-time leading goalscorer


Brazil's Marta became the all-time leading goalscorer in Women's World Cup history as she netted her 15th finals goal in a 2-0 win over South Korea.
The 29-year-old forward's second-half penalty took her clear of former Germany striker Birgit Prinz.
Marta's team-mate Formiga opened the scoring to become, at 37, the oldest goalscorer in the tournament's history.
Brazil's victory took them top of Group E after the first round of fixtures, as Spain and Costa Rica drew 1-1.
Formiga, playing at a record-equalling sixth World Cup, took advantage of an error by Korean defender Kim Doyeon to give the 2007 runners-up the lead.
And, making her 137th international appearance, she was then felled in the penalty area by Cho Soh-yun to present Marta with the chance to make history.
Nearly 12 years on from her first international goal, the five-time world player of the year coolly netted her 92nd goal in 93 international appearances.
Brazil celebrate
Brazil's players celebrate Marta's historic goal

'Go find something else to do'

Marta, who plays her club football for FC Rosengard in Sweden, revealed she considered quitting the sport after becoming a professional because of the criticism she received.
"As I got older and became a teenager there were more people criticising me. For example 'this is not a sport for you, go find something else to do in an area for women'," she told BBC World Service.
"I would hear that a lot in my region and it was very hard to find female teams. I would start thinking I would never find somewhere to play but, thanks to God, I never gave up."

Marta's individual honours

Brazil women's football team top goalscorer
Fifa World Player of the Year winner (five times)
Fifa Women's World Cup Golden Ball winner
US Women's Professional Soccer MVP (two times)
US Women's Professional Soccer Golden Ball winner (three times)
The closest Brazil have come to winning the women's game's biggest prize was in 2007, when they lost to Germany in the final.
Marta said it would be a "dream" to win the title and said she hoped to continue playing through to the 2016 Rio Olympics.
"It is a thought that I have, to play in the Olympics," she said.
"It will depend on if I'm playing well. It would be fantastic if we won the World Cup and we would then be very motivated to get the gold medal at the Olympics. That would mean a lot to all of us."

Spain next for Brazil

The reigning Copa America champions will next play newcomers Spain, on Saturday at 21:00 BST.
World Cup debutants Spain and Costa Rica's laboured 1-1 draw was played in a near-empty Montreal Olympic Stadium.
A two-minute span early in the first half produced both goals, with Vicky Losada scoring the Spaniards' first World Cup goal with a low finish after 13 minutes before Raquel Rodriguez side-footed home to equalise a minute later.

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