In the end, the great Marta was on the field embracing the promising Jamaican striker Bunny Shaw, who put her hand to her chest and poured out her admiration and thanks in a beautiful, intimate post-game exchange.
“I just told her that she’s not just an inspiration for me, but for a lot of young girls in the Caribbean and around the world,” Shaw said, according to The Associated Press.
At the time Shaw took up the sport, Marta was just stepping into greatness.
She was named FIFA Player of the Year in 2006, the first of five consecutive years in which she won the award. She won a sixth as well, in 2018. A five-time Olympian, she has also played in six World Cups and holds the all-time scoring record, women or men, with 17 goals. She won the Golden Ball and the Golden Boot in the 2007 tournament. She has scored more and played longer than any other woman, and is widely considered the greatest of all time.
Brazil failed to make it through the group stage. Marta, at age 37, did not score in this, her final World Cup run, but her legend will endure.
“When I started playing, I didn’t have an idol, a female idol. You guys didn’t show any female games. How was I supposed to see other players? How I was I supposed to understand that I could arrive at a national team and become a reference?” Marta told the assembled media after the game.
“Today we have our own references,” she said, adding she is often stopped on the streets by parents who say their daughters want to be just like Marta. “This wouldn’t have happened if we had stopped in the first obstacles that we faced. … And it didn’t start just with me, but with a lot of the women back then.”
Shaw is among the legion of players who have aspired to the greatness Marta achieved, and they are now ready to pick up that mantle.
“I’m very happy with all that has been happening in women’s football in Brazil and in the world. Keep supporting,” Marta said, her eyes filled with tears. “Because for them, it’s just the beginning. For me, it’s the end of the line now.”