Marta of Brazil will retire from international soccer this year, regardless of whether she is chosen for the national team for the 2024 Summer Games. Photo by Joel Carrett/EPA-EFE
April 26 (UPI) — Brazilian soccer legend Marta will end her international playing career after a potential run at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, she announced Thursday.
Marta posted the announcement on her Instagram story. She also spoke about the decision in an interview with CNN Brazil. She said she will not play in 2025, even if she isn’t picked for Brazil’s Paris 2024 roster.
“If I go to the Olympics, I will enjoy every moment, because, regardless of whether I go to the Olympics or not, this is my last year with the national team,” Marta told CNN Brazil.
Marta, 38, is a five-time Olympian. She is a two-time silver medalist. The leading scorer in Brazil women’s soccer history also is a six-time FIFA World Player of the Year and holds the record for World Cup goals (17) — for women and men.
Veteran striker Marta won a gold medal with Brazil at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro. File Photo by Heinz Ruckemann/UPI
She helped Brazil finish as the runner-up at the 2007 World Cup. Marta announced last year that the 2023 World Cup was her final run at that competition. Brazil failed to advance past the group stage.
In 2021, Marta became the first soccer player ever to score in five-consecutive Olympics.
Brazil’s Marta Silva (R) holds the record for the most goals scored (17) in the history of the women’s and men’s World Cups. File Photo by Heinz Ruckemann/UPI
“Congratulations, you are much more than a football player,” fellow Brazilian soccer legend Pele, who died in 2022, posted on Instagram after she set the Olympic record. “You help build a better world with your talent, in which women gain more space.”
She currently plays for the Orlando Pride of the National Women’s Soccer League. Marta last played for Brazil in a shootout victory over Japan in the third-place match of the SheBelieves Cup on April 9 in Columbus, Ohio.
The 18-player rosters for the Summer Games soccer competition are expected to be announced in the coming months.
“A lot will depend on our performance here at Orlando throughout the season,” Marta told CNN Brazil. “I’m working toward it. I want to go to the Olympics. I want to play one more.”
The Brazilians will play their first Olympics group stage match at 1 p.m. July 25 the Matmut Atlantique in Bordeaux, France.
