Marta Vieira da Silva (born February 19, 1986 in Dois Riachos, Alagoas), commonly known as Marta, is a Brazilian female football forward who plays for the Western New York Flash of Women's Professional Soccer. She is also a member of the Brazil women's national football team.
She has been named FIFA World Player of the Year five times (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010) and was the inaugural winner of that award's successor, the FIFA Ballon d'Or, in 2010. She was a member of the Brazilian National Teams that won the silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and 2008 Summer Olympics. She was also awarded the Golden Ball (MVP) at the 2004 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship. 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. She also tops the all–time Women's World Cup goalscorer list alongside Birgit Prinz. She is widely regarded as one of the best female soccer players of all time.
Marta was discovered by well-known Brazilian female coach, Helena Pacheco, when she was just 14 years old. Marta went on to play and live at the training facilities of the prestigious Rio de Janeiro football club, Vasco da Gama, for two years until the club ceased operation of its women's professional team in 2001. In 2002 she played for a small club in Minas Gerais which folded at the end of the season.
Marta joined Umea IK prior to the 2003–2004 season during which Umea reached the final of the [[UEFA Women's Cup|UEFA Cup]], winning 8–0 on aggregate against Frankfurt with Marta scoring three goals over the two-legs. In the league, despite amassing a total of 106 goals, which was 32 more than the Champions, Umea finished second, beaten by a single point by [[Djurgardens IF Dam|Djurgarden]]. Marta scored 22 league goals, and also got on the scoresheet at the cup final against Djurgarden, scoring the only goal in a 2–1 Umea loss.
Her second season (2004–2005) ended with Marta scoring 21 goals and with Umea winning the league, having gone undefeated. Once again, Umea were beaten by Djurgarden in the cup losing by a score of 3–1 in the final; thus revenging a 7–0 league defeat to Umea some three weeks earlier.
In 2005–2006, Umea once again won the league without losing, and Marta, as in the previous year, was the league's top scorer with 21 goals. Umea cruised to a 11–1 aggregate win over side Kolbotn FK in the UEFA Women's Cup, with Marta scoring twice in both matches. For the third time in a row, she was on the losing side in the Swedish cup final when her side were defeated 3–2
The 2006–2007 season was a relatively successful for Umea with the club winning both the league, in which they finished nine points ahead of Djurgarden,
The 2008 season saw Umeå and Marta win another Swedish championship title. After the end of the season, speculation arose concerning the future of Marta and a couple of months later, on the day of the FIFA World Player of the Year Awards in January 2009, Marta announced that she would play for the American side Los Angeles Sol for the next three years.
Marta's life and football prowess was depicted in the 2005 Swedish Television documentary "Marta — Pelés kusin" ("Marta, cousin of Pelé").
The 2006–2007 season was a relatively successful for Umeå with the club winning both the league, in which they finished nine points ahead of Djurgården, and the Swedish Cup, beating AIK 4–3 in a match in which Marta scored a hat-trick, the last (winning) goal coming three minutes from time. Marta scored 25 goals in the league finishing one goal behind the top scorer Lotta Schelin. In the UEFA Women's Cup they reached the final for the fourth time but suffered a disappointment, losing 1–0 on aggregate to Arsenal.
The 2008 season saw Umeå and Marta win another Swedish championship title. After the end of the season, speculation arose concerning the future of Marta and a couple of months later, on the day of the FIFA World Player of the Year Awards in January 2009, Marta announced that she would play for the American side Los Angeles Sol for the next three years.
At the request of Marta, the Los Angeles side also purchased Johanna Frisk from Umea IK, which lead to an accusation from Swedish TV4 sports presenter Patrick Ekwall that Marta and Frisk were a homosexual couple.
The accusation was strongly denied by both players.
Marta's life and football prowess was depicted in the 2005 Swedish Television documentary "Marta — Pelés kusin" ("Marta, cousin of Pelé").
The day Marta received the 2008 World Footballer of the Year award she announced that she would be joining Women's Professional Soccer team Los Angeles Sol under a three year contract.
Marta was the league's top scorer for the 2009 season during which the Sol were regular season champions and reached the WPS Championship Final, which it lost to Sky Blue FC by a score of 1-0.
In January 2010, the Sol ceased operationsand the rights to Marta and her teammates were made available in the 2010 WPS Dispersal Draft. The rights to Marta were acquired by the FC Gold Pride as their first pick in the ensuing 2010 WPS Dispersal Draft.
She appeared in all of the Pride's 24 games and scored 19 goals, earning her the WPS MVP and WPS Golden Boot for the second year in a row. Marta also appeared in the WPS All-Star 2010, where she captained one of the teams as the top international vote-getter. She led the Gold Pride to the regular season championship and had two assists and a goal in the WPS Championship against the Philadelphia Independence, earning MVP honors.
She became a free agent after the Gold Pride folded on November 17, 2010.
On January 25, 2011, Marta joined her third WPS team in three years, the expansion team Western New York Flash, who took over the third year of her contract with the Gold Pride. Marta's 2 goals and 4 assists were a key part to the 3-0-1 start for the team's 2011 season.
Western New York Flash forward Marta helped her team to the Regular Season Championship title, scoring her tenth goal of the season in a 2-0 victory over the Atlanta Beat on Sunday, en route to earning her third consecutive PUMA Golden Boot award. The Brazilian soccer star edged out fellow Flash forward Christine Sinclair, in the tie breaker having a greater production rate based on goals per game average.
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 Brazilian great Pelé, being called "Pelé with skirts." Even Pelé himself agreed with the comparison. Marta has stated that he 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. Afterwards the imprint of her feet was recorded in cement at the stadium, making her the first woman to be so honoured.
Marta participated in the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup with Brazil who strolled through the group stage, winning all three games with Marta scoring four goals. In the quarter final Brazil won 3–2 against Australia with Marta netting from the penalty spot. In the semi-final Marta scored twice as Brazil won 4–0 against the United States—the second goal scored in spectacular fashion. In the final Brazil lost 2–0 to Germany. Marta had a penalty kick saved midway through the second half, which would have tied the match. She finished the 2007 Women's World Cup as the winner of both the 'Golden Ball' as the top individual player and the 'Golden Boot' as the competition's top scorer with seven goals.
Marta wearing the Brazil number 10
Marta also played in the 2008 Summer Olympics, earning a silver medal. After her personal duel in the final with United States goalkeeper Hope Solo, a 1–0 defeat consigned Marta to her third consecutive runners–up medal in major international tournaments.
Marta was part of the Brazil team at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup where Brazil was eliminated by the United States in the quarter finals. She recorded four goals and two assists in the tournament, to move joint top of the all–time Women's World Cup goalscorer list alongside Birgit Prinz on 14.[21] It also earned her the Silver Ball as the tournament's second leading goal scorer. From her first touch in the tournament against Australia, Marta was heavily jeered by local and opposing fans. Many in the media saw this treatment as a reaction to her perceived unsporting play, especially in the quarterfinal against the United States
Individual
* FIFA World Player of the Year - Winner (5): 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
* FIFA World Player of the Year - Runner-up (1): 2005
* Copa Libertadores de Fútbol Femenino Golden Ball (1): 2009
* Damallsvenskan Top Scorer (4): 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008
* Damallsvenskan Best Forward of the Year (2): 2007, 2008
* U-20 World Cup Golden Ball (1): 2004
* FIFA Women's World Cup Golden Ball (1): 2007
* FIFA Women's World Cup Golden Shoe (1): 2007
* Women's Professional Soccer MVP (2): 2009, 2010
* Women's Professional Soccer Golden Boot (3): 2009, 2010, 2011
* Women's Professional Soccer Championship MVP (1): 2010
* Sudamericano Femenino top-scorer: 2010
* Sports Illustrated Top 20 Female Athletes of the Decade (2000–2009)
Marta has three siblings, Jose, Valdir, and Angela. Her parents are Aldario and Tereza. As of 2010, she lives in San Jose and is a competent Swedish speaker. On October 11, 2010 Marta was named a UN goodwill ambassador.
