Latina Powerhouse athlete Marta Vieira da Silva is already one of the most iconic soccer players in the world, and now, she’s making history once again.
In the opening match of the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday, the Orlando Pride star became the first women’s soccer player to score in five straight Olympic Games after netting a pair of goals in Brazil’s 5-0 win over China.
Marta began the scoring for Brazil during the ninth minute of play, pouncing on a ball rebounding off the crossbar and burying the shot in the net. She went on to add another in the second half with an impressive left-footed finish.
After making the goal, Marta formed a “T” shape with her arms and held it up to the television cameras in celebration, which she did as a sweet dedication to her fiancée and Orlando Pride teammate Toni Pressley.
The impressive skills she displayed in this game marked Marta’s 110th and 111th goals for Brazil across her 160 games with the national team.
Luckily, Marta wasn’t the only player to bring out all the stops for the important night, with North Carolina Courage star Debinha netting the second goal of the match for Brazil in the 21st minute. Andressa went on to score a penalty kick in the 82nd minute and Beatriz followed that up with an 89th minute goal to power Brazil to a dominant victory.
Vieira da Silva is already accustomed to receiving her fair share of accolades, being the only player--male or female-- to be named FIFA Player of the Year six times. This past summer, at the 2019 edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, she set another record for most career goals by a single player in the World Cup with her 17th, passing Germany’s Miroslav Klose. She also became the first player, of either sex, to score at five World Cup tournaments.
Now, in her fifth Olympic Games, Marta is chasing one of the awards that has eluded Brazil: the highly-coveted gold medal. Brazil won silver in 2004 and 2008 but has not medaled at the past two Olympic Games.
The Brazilians are set to continue their group stage action with a match against the Netherlands on July 24.
