Marta: Brazil legend to retire from international duty

Brazil legend Marta says she will retire from international football this year.

The 38-year-old striker is Brazil’s all-time record goalscorer in both men’s and women’s football.

Marta could make her sixth appearance at an Olympic Games if she is selected for Brazil’s squad this summer in Paris.

“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,” she told CNN in Brazil.

“There will be no more Marta from 2025 in the national team as an athlete.”

She won Olympic silver at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, losing to the United States on both occasions.

Marta is the all-time leading goal-scorer in World Cups, men’s and women’s, scoring 17 times in 23 appearances across six editions of the tournament.

She came closest to World Cup glory in 2007 when Brazil finished runners-up to Germany.

After Brazil failed to reach the knockout stage at last summer’s World Cup, she said “there is no more World Cup for Marta”.

Marta, who has played club football for Orlando Pride since 2017, said she feels comfortable passing the baton to Brazil’s next generation of footballers.

“We have a really qualified team with really talented girls who, as the years go by, you will see what I’m talking about,” she said.

“Because of this I feel very comfortable saying: ‘Listen, I’m passing on to you, I’m going to pass on the baton and you continue to carry on this legacy’.”