There was a time when women’s football was seen as somewhat immoral, women were not allowed to play the round leather game. Just like how male football has evolved over years now, so too female football has, both have changed and evolved in shape, followership, and media coverage.
Female football, no doubt doesn’t have the kind of followership, support, and glamour that male football has, even though female football doesn’t have what male football brings to the table anytime it takes center stage. It has at one point produced icons and legends who at one point have donned their team jersey with pride and also graced the pitch with their talents and went on to achieve success.
- Life of Marta Viera Da Silva
- Who is the best team in women’s football?
- Is women’s football a sport?
- Why is women’s soccer not popular as men’s?
- How tall do you have to be to be a female soccer player?
- Which country is best at women’s soccer?
- Who is the best female soccer player of all time?
- Who is the fastest woman soccer player?
- Which female soccer player has the most goals?
- How fast can a woman kick a soccer ball?
- Who was the first female soccer player?
- Who was the first black female soccer player?
Life of Marta Viera Da Silva
It is no doubt that Brazil is one of the best and finest football nations on the globe. The Brazilian national team has produced great legends in the mode of Pele, Garrincha, Carrera, Zico, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, and Kaka among many other fantastic footballers that the country also possessed.
This even makes many other footballing countries envy the great talents in their team likewise same can be said of the Brazilian women’s team.
Among the great talent that Brazilian soccer did produce is Marta, a great icon and legend of women’s football in Brazil and the world, the Brazilian female Pele is no doubt the great flagbearer for Brazil women’s football.
Even despite the harsh environment in terms of giving women football the opportunity to develop a large chunk of women football stars like Daniela, Cristiane, and most importantly Marta has shown to the world that the game of soccer doesn’t only belong to men.
According to reports, Marta spoke about her childhood back in North-Eastern Brazil, in the backwater of Dois Riachos where she usually played football with the boys in a state that was synonymous with poverty and illiteracy in Brazil before she went to Vasco De Gama to kick start her career.
“I played with the boys out on the street without shoes. I was the only girl and every time I played I had to try something so that I could be better,”
Marta said in 2012. She had to hide that she was playing from her brother, who didn’t want her to participate — not because he had anything against her playing, but because he wanted to protect her from bullies.
Marta as a young lady who is very much in love and interested in the round leather game of football while growing up back in her town Dois Riachos, Alagoas Brazil, as a 14 years old girl was discovered by a Brazilian female coach Helena Pacheco after playing for the CSA Youth Team.
In the year 2000, Marta started her professional career at Vasco De Gama, thereafter two years later she left for Santa Cruz a very small club in the state of Minas Gerais where she played for over two seasons before going on a move that defines her career in Sweden with Umea IK at the age of 17 or thereabout.
Her move to Umea IK made her achieved a lot with the Swedish giant winning four consecutive Swedish Championships and a European Cup with over 103 appearances and 111 goals from 2004-2008.
After her triumph in winning the FIFA World Player of the Year in 2009, Marta moved to Los Angeles Sol in the Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) the USA, on a three-year contract where she won the league, came out as the highest goalscorer with 10 goals and also reached the WPS Championship final with Sol.
Sol lost to Sky Blue FC in the final in her first season with the American team before she was loaned back to Brazil with Santos during the off-season on a three-month loan contract, and she went on to help Santos in the Libertadores Feminino final and the Copa do Brazil final.
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Following her return from Santos, Los Angeles Sol ceased operations, and as such her right was made available in the 2010 WPS Dispersal Draft to FC Gold Pride. Playing for FC Gold, she appeared in all of their 24 games and scored 19 goals which won her the league Most Valuable Player and the Golden Boot for the second year in a row in Women’s Professional Soccer.
Marta left FC Gold Pride in 2010 as a free agent after the team folded without any headways, which made her return to Santos.
Marta returned to Santos for the second time didn’t also last long, as she went on to join Western New York Flash which was her third Women’s Professional Soccer team in three years. Her stint with the American-based team helped them to win the Championship title and also won the Puma Golden Boot award edging out Christine Sinclair.
Meanwhile following the cancellation of the WPS Marta moved back to the Swedish league Damallsvensken in 2012, signing a two-year contract with Tyreso FF, Marta’s contributions to the team won Tyreso FF the Damallsvensken league for the first time as she went on to win her fifth title.
In 2014, Marta sealed a move to the defending Champion Rosengard FC of Sweden on a six-month deal, while the champion won the Damallsvensken title with them in 2014-15, plus the Svenska Supercupen in 2015 and 2016.
After the Champion League quarterfinals loss to Barcelona feminine, she joined Orlando Pride as a free agent from the Swedish champions which agreed to terminate her deal in her first season with the American-based side. She finished as the second goalscorer, and was voted MVP.
However, her contributions weren’t enough to help the team to navigate their playoff appearance after finishing third in the league.
Having chronologically pointed out how Marta’s club careers went, and since then taken a meteoric rise. At the age of 16, when she scored six goals at the first FIFA Women’s Youth Championship which paved way for her senior cap in the color of the Brazilian women’s team, and won the Pan American Games with the team, as her electrifying blitz of power and trickery was just too much for oppositions to deal with.
“Pele in Skirt” as the legendary man himself referred to her, in respect to her natural talent which took her out of the poverty-ravaged city of Dois Riachos and took her to the biggest stage in her career.
Marta’s influence on football in Brazil and to some extent another part of the world sparked a revolution within the game which made many other Brazilian young girls opt for the sport, this also brought about huge change to women’s football.
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There’s no agreement about who the best women’s soccer is before Marta, however, the entirety of the players who are in the discussion is somewhat direct and uninventive, regardless of their skills and talents.
Michelle Akers was a nightmare that defenders ricocheted off of. Sun Wen’s brilliant expertise was, in fact, an exact ball-striker.
Mia Hamm utilized her size to wreck defenders. Birgit Prinz was built like a blockhouse. Even the satiny, talented Homare Sawa had a game that was more about vision and accuracy than trickery. Today these players would, for the most part, be viewed as supplements, Play Your Role types, not exact superstars.
The beautiful game of early trailblazer showed mankind that women’s football was interesting, superb, exciting, and had something to offer. The Brazilian female Pele opened up a more extensive scope of conceivable brilliance and possibilities. She opened the minds of young aspiring female footballers and coaches, and that is the reason she’s the most notable female footballer to ever grace the game.
“Progress for women’s soccer here doesn’t walk, it crawls,” Marta said in 2014. “Many of these girls have the qualifications the sport demands, but with no incentive, or sponsors or publicity, it’s impossible to move forward. It’s impossible to support yourself playing soccer if you’re a woman playing the game in Brazil.”
Marta’s influence on the sport doesn’t just make her a household name on the pitch, but rather an iconic status for women’s soccer off and on the pitch.
Bringing the sport to the limelight right from her young age back in Brazil ignited more female players to show more interest in taking part in the game wherever the game is been played across the world. Even at a time when her career was gradually whining down, she continues to speak for her nation and women’s football.
She brought smiles to the faces of fans with her flamboyant trickery dribbles, huge investments into the women’s game in Brazil, and everywhere she found herself.
In fact, there are now 16 female clubs in the top tier division and 36 in the second tier while the U18 women’s team has 24 teams. Even after their exit at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup Marta continues to advocate for her country to keep to the survival of the game which she helped grow with her influence.
Further addressing the next generation of female players, and according to her
“It’s wanting more, it’s training more, it’s taking care of yourself more, fight against prejudice, fight against lack of support, fight against it all, the boys and the people who thought you can’t, the women game depends on you survive “.
With this statement and emotive, you will agree that Marta doesn’t just play the round leather game, she also helps revolutionized women’s football and she remains the greatest female footballer ever to have played in five World Cups and scored a record 17 goals to upstage Miroslav Klose.
FAQ
Who is the best team in women’s football?
Women’s Ranking
RK Team +/-
1 USA 0.19
2 SWE -20.37
3 FRA -5.46
4 NED -0.59
Is women’s football a sport?
Women’s football is one of the fastest-growing sports, it’s only going to get bigger.
Why is women’s soccer not popular as men’s?
The simple reason the women’s game has not reached the same level as the men’s is because it is not taken seriously enough and the media think there isn’t enough audience interest. Boys are regularly offered opportunities denied to girls, they are encouraged to play football while girls are still discouraged.
How tall do you have to be to be a female soccer player?
The height of female soccer players is usually taller than the average for women. The average height for a women’s soccer team is 5 foot 7 inches. This is three inches taller than the average female height of 5 foot 4 inches. There can be considerable differences around this average.
Which country is best at women’s soccer?
Position Country Pts
1 United States 8,344
2 Canada 5,114
3 Jamaica 3,349
Who is the best female soccer player of all time?
Marta (Marta Vieira da Silva is a Brazilian striker who is widely regarded as the best female player of all time. She has been named FIFA Player of the Year six times, and, during the 2019 World Cup in France, set two new records.
Who is the best female soccer player in the world in 2021?
Alexia Putellas. Few would argue that Alexia Putellas is not the top female soccer player in the world right now. In 2021, the Barcelona superstar became the first player ever to win the Ballon d’Or Feminin, The Best FIFA Women’s Player, and UEFA Women’s Player of the Year Award in the same year.
Who is the fastest woman soccer player?
Abby Wambach
Which female soccer player has the most goals?
Rank Player Intl goals
1 Christine Sinclair 190
2 Abby Wambach 184
3 Mia Hamm 158
How fast can a woman kick a soccer ball?
Although there are no official records, it’s estimated that average female players (non-professionals) can kick the ball at approximately 50 mph
Who was the first female soccer player?
Mia Hamm
Full name Mariel Margaret Hamm-Garciaparra
Date of birth March 17, 1972
Place of birth Selma, Alabama, U.S.
Height 5 ft 5 in (165 cm)
Who was the first black female soccer player?
Briana Scurry – The first African American Women’s soccer player in the Hall of Fame. Briana Scurry was born on September 7th, 1971 in Minneapolis USA. Early Years: Briana Scurry was the youngest of nine children.
