The inevitability of Marta

Age-defying superstar shines in legendary Copa America Femenina final

Marta poses with the Copa America Femenina trophy. Credit: Getty Images

In April last year, when Brazilian legend Marta proclaimed she was going to retire from international duty after the Paris Olympic Games, most in the football world couldn’t believe it.

Brazil had only just been awarded the 2027 Women’s World Cup, a once in a generation event, and it was destiny that the country’s greatest women’s footballer would bow out on that stage, even if it would mean she would be still be playing in her 40s.

“There is a moment when we have to understand that the time has come,” she told CNN Esportes in April 2024, aged 38.

“I am very calm about this because I see with great optimism this development that we are having in relation to young [players].”