Marta Vieira da Silva

Infobox Football biography
playername = Marta
fullname = Marta Vieira da Silva


height = Height|m=1.62
nickname = Pelé en falda
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1986|2|19
cityofbirth = Dois Riachos, Alagoas
countryofbirth = Brazil
currentclub = Umeå IK
clubnumber = 10
position = Forward
youthyears = 2000–2002
youthclubs = Vasco da Gama
years = 2002–2004
2004–
clubs = Santa Cruz
Umeå IK
caps(goals) =
0 85 (88)
nationalyears = 2002–
nationalteam = Brazil
nationalcaps(goals) = 045 0(47)
pcupdate = October 24, 2007
ntupdate = October 24, 2007

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.

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.

Marta's life and football prowess was depicted in the 2005 Swedish Television documentary "Marta - Pelés kusin" ("Marta, cousin of Pelé").

Vasco da Gama

Marta was discovered by renowned Brazilian female coach, Helena Pacheco, when she was just 14 years old. Marta went on to play for Rio club, Vasco da Gama, for 2 years until the club ended its womens professional team in 2001. In 2002 she played for a small club in Sao Paolo that only existed for 1 season.

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. [ [http://pan2007.globo.com/PAN/Noticias/0,,MUL78950-3873,00.html GloboEsporte.com > Pan2007 > Futebol Pan2007 - NOTÍCIAS - Pelé diz que Marta é Pelé de saias ] ] 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 Women's 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. [ [http://youtube.com/watch?v=Iba7RiOuvEQ YouTube - Brazil Marta Amazing Goal vs USA (World Cup China) ] ] She finished as top scorer and was named best player of the tournament.

Personal life

She has three siblings, José, Valdir and Angela. Her parents are Aldário and Tereza. Her favorite club besides Umeå IK is Corinthians, and her favorite players are Ronaldinho and Rivaldo. Apart from football, her favourite sport is tennis, and she enjoys playing the guitar. She currently lives in Umeå. [ [http://www.uik.se/marta.html Marta ] ] and is a competent Swedish speaker.

Honours

Club

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 (1): 2003-04
*UEFA Women's Cup Runner-up (1): 2006-07

Brazil

*Summer Olympics - Runner-up (2): 2004, 2008
*Pan American Games - Winner (1): 2007
*Sudamericano Femenino - Winner (1): 2003
*FIFA Women's World Cup - Runner-up (1): 2007

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 Ball (1): 2007
*FIFA Women's World Cup Golden Shoe (1): 2007

References

External links

* [http://www.uik.se/marta.html Marta's Umeå IK profile]
* [http://www.fifa.com/womenworldcup/teams/team=1882881/players/player=190358.html Marta's profile at FIFA.com]
* [http://youtube.com/watch?v=Iba7RiOuvEQ Marta's second goal against the United States at the 2007 Women's World Cup]
* [http://www.marta10.com Marta's Official Website]
* [http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/awards/gala/news/newsid=648395.html#marta+true+virtuoso Marta: A true virtuoso - Article from FIFA's homepage]
* [http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1819129_1819134_1825745,00.html "Marta Vieira da Silva"] , n°23 on "Time"’s list of "100 Olympic Athletes To Watch"

Persondata
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=