With plenty of experience in youth national teams, where she has played since she was 13 years old, midfielder Ana Vitoria brings plenty of motivation to compete in the Paris Olympics. The Brazilian National Team debuts on the 25th of this month against Nigeria in Bordeaux, and the expectation is growing for the start of the competition.
One of the first to arrive in Teresópolis, where the National Team trains for the Olympics, Ana Vitoria is very close to realizing the first part of a dream of many years: to participate in an edition of the Games. As for the completion of the dream, confidence and dedication are not lacking.
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“I’ve been here since I was 13 years old, always visualizing this dream, the Olympic dream. The first part of it is almost realized, which is being inside an Olympics. Now it’s time to really start, with the opening match. And the second part, which is the biggest dream of all of us here, is to focus on the gold medal. I continue to work hard for this.”
During her time with the youth national teams, Ana Vitoria closely followed the preparation of several athletes for other Olympics. But the dream is prior to that period.
“When I was 6, 7 years old, I already watched the girls and rooted a lot. That’s where the dream started. Then, from the age of 13, I started to see this pre-Olympic phase up close and that only increased my desire to compete and win an Olympic medal.”
The midfielder from Atletico de Madrid knows the opponents of Brazil in the group stage very well: in order, Nigeria, Japan and Spain. And, of course, she keeps up to date on the movements of these national teams. But, she says, the focus at the moment is on the preparation of the Brazilian National Team.
“We already know quite well the game model of the opponents, they are very well-defined schools. We have studied a lot how these teams play collectively and individually, but we have focused mainly on what we can and will do in the game and this work has been very good.”
Brazil’s recent friendly matches against Jamaica, in which they won both 4-0, served to show the connection between the fans and the National Team, very well received both in Recife, the venue of the first game, and in Salvador. In Ana Vitoria’s assessment, this harmony acts as another motivating factor for the team.
“This proximity, this affection of the fans does cross our minds. It was important for us to have had these games here in our country, in cities that had not received National Team matches for a while. A very nice energy, it gives us an extra boost and that is very important.”
