![]() The Swede is never far away when Marta agrees to meet Sportsmail in New York and provides quite a contrast. Marta will not field questions on whether she demanded that Sol sign Frisk, just the start of internet rumours about the players' off-field relationship.įrisk, 22, is by no means a star player and has been capped just once internationally. Her move will be helped by the Sol's recruitment of her former Umea team-mate Johanna Frisk. Still, after five years in Sweden, it was a difficult decision to uproot her life. 'The proposal that the WPS and the LA Sol put together was one not only for me, but to grow football here.' For me that's the important thing, not whether or not the sport itself has taken a foothold. 'This is the home of women's football and it continues to grow. 'Here there are so many sports,' she said. Marta may be from a country where futebol is king, but she relishes rather than fears the challenge of fighting for the headlines. The WPS is about to vye for attention with ice hockey, basketball, baseball and that other football for interest - and in a recession no less. The first one will be on March 29 when Marta's LA Sol host Washington Freedom at the same Home Depot Center where David Beckham's own American adventure didn't quite go to plan. FIFA may give those men and women's awards parity, but few of the headlines featured the girl from Dois Riachos, Alagoas state.įacing a challenge: Marta is the star signing of the new American league Marta was top scorer and player of that tournament, then in January she picked up her third successive World Player of the Year award, having her photo taken alongside Cristiano Ronaldo in Zurich. The physical side of women's football may shock those with preconceptions of the game, just as the high standard was a pleasent surprise to many when the World Cup in China was aired on the BBC 18 months ago. She was once banned for a game by her former club Umea for a training ground incident and a trawl of the YouTube website shows incidents of her punching an opponent in the face during the 2005 Swedish Cup Final and kicking another in the stomach last year. Nonetheless, Marta is no shrinking violet. But at 5ft 4in she is diminutive even among her own team-mates. To see her in action, it is hard to dispute she has the natural ability. 'For example, I could be on a team with men and not have a problem, but then one person might want to prove a point and become very physical - and it doesn't really make sense.' We have the ability, we have the technique, we have the tactics. 'To go out there and (play in the men's game) I just don't see it. 'I play all the time with my male friends who are also professionals. 'There's space for everybody,' she told Sportsmail. With a healthy salary from the Los Angeles Sol and increasing endorsement deals to add to a high-profile role as a Puma athlete, she is now picking up £875,000 a year and she sees no need to fight the system and be a trailblazer. It could have been different for Marta, who once suggested she was good enough to make it in the lucrative men's game.Īnd just 18 months ago a TV documentary team wanted to put her up alongside players at Oldham Athletic of all places. The 23-year-old is the star signing for the WPS - Women's Professional Soccer - a new seven-team American league that has brought together the very best players in the world, which launched last weekend. Brazilian brand: Marta models Puma sportswear
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