legend , 38, is set to retire from international football after the 2024 Olympic Games this month, but what legacy has she left on the women's game? We spoke to those who know her best to tell the story of her incredible career. The Beginning Long before she became the best women's soccer player in the world, was seven years old, the only girl playing on a dirt field in Brazil. The games were played in a dry creek, the goals forged from three sticks to make both posts and a crossbar.
She had grown up in poverty, playing without shoes, then later stuffing newspaper into the bottom of her used boots to make them fit. Her single mother had worked long hours to provide for her and three siblings. But she would dribble and weave with the ball like it was tied to her foot.
"She was born to play ," her childhood coach, Tota, tells ESPN. Born to? Everyone says that now, but supposed to? Definitely not. There were always comments.
"She can't play, she's a girl," they often said. Some even asked her mother why she let her play, insisting: "She's not normal." Her mother shook the questions off.
As did her childhood coach, Tota. He got the same questions all the time, none more so than during a children's tournament in the neighbouring town of Santana do Ipanema. The details are slightly lost to time now, but the crux is this: Marta arrived at the competition she had played in before, but this time it was a problem.
A coach from another team said his team wouldn't play against her, with .