Marta’s eighth season with the Orlando Pride culminated in the NWSL championship. The team also includes Finnish goalkeeper Sofia Manner.
Brazilian soccer legend Marta has during his long and successful career played in the Olympic final three times and once in the World Cup final, but he played the most important game of his career, at least in his own words by on Saturday.
Orlando Pride, the club team he represents, met the Washington Spirit in the final match of the NWSL, the main series of the United States.
That match also ended Marta’s many years of waiting, because with the Florida team’s 1–0 victory, Marta’s list of achievements was completed with the NWSL championship.
After securing the championship, Marta said that she has asked herself why she is still playing in Orlando even after eight years.
– Now I have an answer. It was time to win the championship, he said.
He scored the goal that decided the first championship in Orlando’s club history Barbra Banda in the 37th minute of the game.
The championship team also has a Finnish color, because at the turn of the year the goalkeeper Sofia Manner moved to Orlando’s strength. Manner got on the field in the summer cup games.
Marta believes she will play two more seasons
– I never expected to be here at this moment. But I strongly believe that God knows the right time for things to happen, Marta comment.
– This means so much. Playing with these players is something very special that I have never experienced with any other team. I am very happy, the Brazilian expressed.
Marta’s mother was also there watching the game, for whom it was the first time that she was watching her daughter’s match in the United States. This meant a lot to the player.
In this NWSL season, Marta scored nine goals in the regular season and two in the playoffs.
38-year-old Marta’s contract with Orlando expires this season.
Earlier this week, he said he believes he will play two more seasons. He ended his national team career last summer at the Olympic final in Paris, where Brazil lost to the United States.
Marta has been chosen as the best female soccer player of the year six times.