Six times elected the best in the world and on the eve of competing in her sixth Olympics, Marta continues to play at a high level. She has had a very good season with Orlando Pride in 2024 and also stood out in the Brazilian National Team’s recent friendlies. Now, back at the CBF training center in Teresópolis (RJ), she seeks to maintain excellence.
In an interview with CBF TV, given during a break between her activities at Granja Comary, Marta spoke about her feelings of competing in another Olympics and the structure of women’s football in the country. She also said that the consistency in her performance has to do with focus and stated that demands are part of the relationship between football and the fans.
Regarding the Paris Olympic Games specifically, she stated that the National Team will try to do what they know best, which is “to play with joy, with boldness and also with a lot of grit and willpower”.
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Feelings for the sixth Olympics
The joy is the same, it’s always a pleasure to wear the national team jersey, to represent our country in such a grand competition as the Olympics. Compared to the first time (it was in Athens, in 2004), there is, of course, a difference in both age and experience. In my first one, I was 18 years old and everything was new to me. I was discovering Brazilian women’s football. I was already playing in Sweden, but I had little opportunity to be on the national team, which played less at the time, with fewer friendlies. Today, the baggage is a little greater, with much more experience, and this makes us aware of the responsibility, but with tranquility.
Structure
I see changes in everything compared to the early 2000s: in the structure of many clubs, in the structure of the Women’s National Team, in the approach to women’s football in our country. I see that people are really excited about the moment of the sport and believe that it can improve more and more, they follow the girls and have an easier time getting news about women’s football in the country. Today, the media talks more, back then we didn’t have that.
Confidence
There will be no lack of willpower, grit for us to pursue this dream, which is not only of the athletes, but of a nation. We are working hard and I believe we will have the opportunity to show this from the very first moment when we are at the Olympics, which is a difficult competition, with a lot of balance.
Maintaining a high level
(The secret to maintaining a high level) is focus. It’s no use for me to want to accelerate the process. I’ve always been very much about thinking about what I can do today to be better tomorrow. I’ve always been an athlete who tried to keep my focus on my goal, never satisfied, thinking that I could improve and learn not only from myself, but especially from the people around me. Because we practice a team sport and it’s important to extract the best from each challenge so that we can find unity in the team.
Demands
We live in a country where football is the biggest sport. It’s normal that there are demands. Our work is here, we know our potential, we increasingly know our teammates and we can understand more and more the way our coach (Arthur Elias) wants us to impose ourselves on the field. This is the most important thing.
The work with Arthur Elias
I see it with a lot of optimism. He is a guy who can make his goal here very clear. I can’t see him with doubts, he is very sure of what he wants to do with the national team. He is passing this directly to the athletes and I think we are assimilating everything very well. It’s about trying to capture as much information as possible so that we can perform our best on the field.
Connection with the fans
Wherever Brazil plays, Brazilian fans will be present, it will be like that in France. There is this energy and we have to take advantage of this moment to bring the fans closer and closer to us. So that this can help us on the field and motivate us, and so that we can increasingly show our best, which is to play with joy, play with boldness, but also with a lot of grit and willpower and proud to represent our National Team.
