Amid a currently undefeated season with the first-place Orlando Pride and high-profile retirements from Alex Morgan and Christine Sinclair, Brazilian superstar Marta said she plans to play professional soccer for at least two more years.
“I don’t know if I’m gonna be in Orlando. But my thought is like, play at least two more years,” she told The Athletic. Her current contract with the Pride is up after the 2024 season.
Marta has scored seven goals and recorded two assists in 19 games this season, and the Pride are seven points clear of second-place Washington Spirit, whom they face on Sunday. If they win, they will clinch the NWSL shield, awarded to the team with the highest regular season point total.
In 2023, Marta had four goals, all from penalties, and played a more central attacking midfield position. This season, head coach Seb Hines has moved Marta higher on the field to play alongside Barbra Banda.
“To run after Barbra, you need to work hard. You need to be in good shape,” Marta joked by way of explaining the energy she has exhibited on the field this year.
This has been a season of revitalization for Marta, who won a silver medal with Brazil at the Olympics in France before retiring from international soccer. “I won’t walk away from football. I want to help this generation in some way,” she said after that game, which Brazil lost 1-0 to the United States.
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For club, and with the Pride season going so well, Marta said she was happy with her decision to come to Orlando in 2017.
“I feel good that I decided to stay here for so long and need to go through all of these situations year by year,” she said.
“I came to Orlando because I want to be close to my country, be close to my friends and family, be able to see them a little bit more often. I came here, and then I met good people. The community, it’s amazing. We have almost everybody from everywhere — Latino, Europe. So I feel so comfortable with this. And I started to visualize my life here in Orlando not just for one or two years, but for a long time.”
Since 2017, the Pride have had six head coaches, including interims, and after Marta’s first year with the club, in which they finished third overall, have since never finished higher than seventh or qualified for playoffs. In 2024, the Pride were the first team to mathematically clinch a playoff position, with Marta averaging 78 minutes played per game.
“I always have in my mind that if I put myself in this situation, I need to do the best,” she said. “I want to play because I still have something to give to the team. I still have the energy that the team needs for me and the quality that the soccer world asks for… I feel good.”
After beating Bay FC 1-0 in September, Marta told the post-match media: “I want to do more. I want to break more records, no matter what, so nobody can catch us.”
(Top photo: Nathan Ray Seebeck / Imagn Images)
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5819642/2024/10/05/orlando-pride-marta-club-soccer/
