"There was a moment in the first few years of the century where Brazil were probably the best side in the world, and they kept on falling short at the last hurdle in the World Cup or the Olympics. "Even the announcement of the squad was live on TV. "It's got a profile far bigger than ever before," Vickery said. In the last two tournaments, they have exited at the last-16 stage.īut with double Olympic-winning Swedish coach Pia Sundhage in charge and a series of impressive performances in the build-up - including taking England to penalties at Wembley in the Finalissima - this is a Brazil with renewed belief. Not only are the Brazil side well funded and well supported, as Vickery says, but they absolutely believe they can win their first Women's World Cup at the ninth attempt.īrazil have usually underwhelmed at World Cups, with their only final coming in 2007 - when they lost 2-0 to Germany in Shanghai. Some 176 games and 115 goals later, the circumstances for the team are very different. This was the scene Marta arrived into in 2002, when she made her senior Brazil debut. They qualified from the group, so the goalkeeper had to teach the captain enough English to apologise to her opposite number - 'Sorry, we don't have any pennants left'." "The team were only given enough pennants - the ones the captains exchange before matches - for the group games. The women are using equipment which was hand-me-downs from the men. "The women flew economy class, the men obviously first class. "Go back to just before Marta - 1996, the first time women's football was in the Olympics," Vickery said. 'They weren't given enough pennants' Marta played in Brazil's only Women's World Cup final so far - a 2-0 loss to Germany in 2007 Vickery says that doesn't even begin to tell the story of how the country, which has produced five men's World Cup winning teams, treated its female players. The country's present women's football league did not exist until 2013, with a previous attempt at a national competition running from 1993 until 2001. In Brazil, women's football was officially banned between 19, but even after that it was underfunded and ignored. But what she has done with the supporting cast of Formiga and Cristiane, she has legitimised women's football in Brazil to an extent that the country is now behind it like never before."īrazil's TV Globo reported an average of 11.5 million viewers watched the game against Panama on Monday, external-link which kicked off at 8am local time, while civil servants are being allowed to report to work late when the national team are playing.Īmid the progress and good feeling around women's football, it is easy to forget how the sport was treated within living memory for many people worldwide. She had to fight her brothers to play football. Working-class Brazil, women don't do that. "If her father had found out she was trying to play football he would have thrashed her. "My wife was prevented from playing football by her brother. "My wife idolises her," South American football expert Tim Vickery told BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily. Go here for all the latest from the Women's World Cup.What is more meaningful than the stats, however, has been 37-year-old Marta's impact on Brazilian culture. In Australia and New Zealand she is looking to become the first player to score at six World Cups - male or female - to go with her status of record World Cup goalscorer of any gender, with 17 strikes from 21 matches.
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