Marta Vieira da Silva
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Marta | ||
Personal information | ||
---|---|---|
Full name | Marta Vieira da Silva | |
Date of birth | February 19, 1986 | |
Place of birth | Dois Riachos, Alagoas, Brazil | |
Height | 1.62 m (5 ft 4 in) | |
Playing position | Forward | |
Club information | ||
Current club | Umeå IK | |
Number | 60 | |
Youth clubs | ||
2000-2002 | Vasco da Gama | |
Senior clubs1 | ||
Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
2002-2004 2004- |
Santa Cruz Umeå IK |
(86) |
National team2 | ||
2002- | Brazil | 45 (47) |
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
Olympic medal record | |||
Competitor for Brazil | |||
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Olympic Games - Women's Football | |||
Silver | 2004 Athens | Team Competition | |
Pan American Games - Women's Football | |||
Gold | 2007 Rio de Janeiro | Team Competition |
Marta Vieira da Silva (born February 19, 1986 in Dois Riachos, Alagoas), better known as Marta, is a Brazilian women's football striker, considered the best female soccer player in the world. She plays as a midfielder for Sweden's Umeå IK, and was a member of the Brazilian National Team that won the silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics. She was also named the Golden Ball (MVP) at the 2004 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship (six goals in tournament), in which Brazil finished fourth. She is the 2006 and 2007 FIFA Women's World Player of the Year. In the 2007 Women's World Cup, she won both the Golden Ball award as the best player and the Golden Boot award as the top scorer.
Contents |
[edit] Umeå IK
Marta joined Umeå IK before the 2004 season. Umeå reached the final of the UEFA Cup, winning 8-0 against Frankfurt on aggregate. Marta scored three goals during the two-legged game. In the league, however, Umeå finished second, beaten by a single point by Djurgården. Umeå amassed a total of 106 goals in the league, 32 more than the winning team. Marta scored 22 league goals, and also got on the scoresheet at the cup final against Djurgården, which Umeå lost, 2-1.
Marta's second season with Umeå ended in glory as her 21 goals helped Umeå to a convincing league win, not losing a single game during the run. Once again, Djurgården won the cup final against Marta and her teammates by 3-1. Three weeks earlier, Umeå hammered the same team 7-0 in the league.
In 2006, Umeå once again won the league without losing, and Marta, as in 2005, became league top scorer with 21 goals. Umeå cruised to a 11-1 aggregate win over Norwegian side Kolbotn FK in the semifinal of the UEFA Women's Cup, with Marta scoring a brace in both games. For the third time in a row, she was on the losing side when they were defeated 3-2 by Linköpings FC in the Swedish cup final.
So far during the 2007 season, Marta has scored 20 goals in 18 league matches and four rounds before end, Umeå are leading with 6 points. In April, Marta failed to lift the UEFA Women's Cup for a third time after Umeå lost 1-0 on aggregate to Arsenal. Marta has finally added a Swedish national cup trophy to her merits after beating AIK 4-3 in a match where she scored a hat-trick, the last one being the winning goal three minutes from time.
On October 1, several media sources reported that Marta is being linked with a transfer to Major League Soccer club Los Angeles Galaxy, which would make her the first woman to play professional in a men's league. As of yet, no official move has been announced, but several newspapers are reporting that AEG World Wide, who owns three Major League Soccer clubs, including LA Galaxy, want to tie her up to one of their clubs. Marta herself is interested.[1][2] However on November 3, 2007, Umeå IK announced that she had signed to play there through 2008.
Marta's life and football prowess was depicted in the 2005 Swedish Television documentary "Marta - Pelés kusin" ("Marta, cousin of Pelé").
[edit] International career
On July 26, 2007, Marta and the Brazilian women's team beat the US U-20 National Team to win the Pan American Games at the famous Estádio do Maracanã in front of a crowd of 68,000. She was compared, by the Brazilian fans, with the great Brazilian player Pelé, being called "Pelé with skirts". Even the great Pelé agreed with the comparison. Marta has stated that Pelé called her to congratulate for the win and that she was extremely happy to hear that one of the greatest ever players followed her team's games.[3] Afterwards the imprint of her boots was recorded in cement at the stadium, the first woman to be so honoured, alongside Brazilian male stars' imprints.
Marta participated in the 2007 FIFA World Cup with Brazil. Brazil strolled through their group, winning all three games, with Marta scoring a brace in the first two matches. Brazil won 3-2 over Australia in the quarter-finals on September 23. Marta scored 2-0 from the penalty spot and is now equal with Norway's Ragnhild Guldbrandsen in the World cup top scorer award with 5 goals. On September 27, Marta scored two goals in the semi final of the World Cup as Brazil won 4-0 against the United States, the second goal scored in spectacular fashion. Marta finished the 2007 Women's World Cup as the top individual player, but was unable to win the championship losing to Germany in the final match 2-0 and having a penalty kick blocked by the German keeper which would have tied the match midway through the second half of play.[4] She finished as top scorer and was named best player of the tournament.
[edit] Personal life
She has three siblings, José, Valdir and Angela. Her parents are Aldário and Tereza. Her favourite club besides Umeå IK is Corinthians, and her favourite players are Ronaldinho and Rivaldo. Apart from football, her favourite sport is tennis, and she enjoys playing the guitar. She currently lives in Umeå.[5] and is a competent Swedish speaker.
[edit] Honours
[edit] Club
[edit] Umeå IK (2004-present)
- Damallsvenskan - Champion (2): 2005, 2006
- Damallsvenskan - Runner-up (1): 2004
- Svenska Cupen Winner (1): 2007
- Svenska Cupen Runner-up (3): 2004, 2005, 2006
- UEFA Women's Cup Winner (2): 2003-04, 2005-06
- UEFA Women's Cup Runner-up (1): 2006-07
[edit] Brazil
- Summer Olympics - Runner-up (1): 2004
- Pan American Games - Winner (1): 2007
- Sudamericano Femenino - Winner (1): 2003
- FIFA Women's World Cup - Runner-up (1): 2007
[edit] Individual
- FIFA World Player of the Year - Winner (2): 2006 / 2007
- FIFA World Player of the Year - Runner-up (1): 2005
- Damallsvenskan Top Scorer (3): 2004, 2005, 2006
- Damallsvenskan Best Forward of the Year: 2007
- U-20 World Cup Golden Ball (1): 2004
- FIFA Women's World Cup Golden Shoe (1): 2007
- FIFA Women's World Cup Top Scorer (1): 2007
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Marta's Umeå IK profile
- Marta's profile at FIFA.com
- Marta's second goal against the United States at the 2007 Women's World Cup
- Marta's Official Website
- Marta: A true virtuoso - Article from FIFA's homepage
Preceded by Birgit Prinz |
FIFA World Player of the Year 2006, 2007 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
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Persondata | |
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NAME | Silva, Marta Vieira da |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Marta |
SHORT DESCRIPTION | Football (soccer) player |
DATE OF BIRTH | 19 February 1986 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Dois Riachos, Alagoas, Brazil |
DATE OF DEATH | |
PLACE OF DEATH |