Orlando Pride’s determination to ensure that their “one-in-a-billion” Brazilian Marta won her first National Women’s Soccer League championship title helped focus their resolve to get over the line, says the team’s goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse.
The 38-year-old Marta, who was named as Fifa’s women’s footballer of the year six times between 2006 and 2018, had spent seven seasons with Orlando without lifting a trophy before the team became only the second in the NWSL to win the league winner’s shield and the championship title in the same campaign after defeating Washington Spirit 1-0 in Saturday’s final. Marta’s compatriot Luana, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in April, missed the final but did feature in the semi-final.
