“It’s wanting more. It’s training more. It’s taking care of yourself more. It’s being ready to play 90 plus 30 minutes. This is what I ask of the girls. There’s not going to be a Formiga for ever. There’s not going to be a Marta for ever. There’s not going to be a Cristiane. The women’s game depends on you to survive. Think about that. Value it more. Cry in the beginning so you can smile in the end.”
In June 2019 Marta, Brazil’s captain and all-round trailblazer, stood distraught on the side of a pitch in Le Havre. As the cameras came to her after Brazil had again fallen early on the world stage – beaten in extra time by the hosts, France, in the last 16 of the World Cup – she launched into an impassioned speech to her country’s next generation that drew worldwide traction.
