15 Quotes by Marta

I didn't know there was such a thing as professional soccer, but I knew that Brazil had a women's team that competed against other countries, and I wanted to be on that team.

I play football in training all the time with my male friends, who are also professionals. But playing together in competition? I just don't see it. We have the ability, we have the technique, we have the tactical understanding, but there are physical limitations. You can't get away from that.

Some boys accepted me, some didn't. And my family had comments made to them. Brazil is still a very macho society, and sports are mainly for boys, so people would say to them: 'What is this girl doing? Why is she always out there in the soccer games with the boys?'

Clearly, those of us women who play football wish that there was more coverage. But it's one of those things that happens. Every year the level is getting higher, and I think we surprise a lot of people when the world focuses its attention on the World Cup or the Olympics final.

But the reason that women's football is still unknown is because it's not on television and not widely publicised for a wide majority of the leagues in the world.

One of our problems is the culture of Brazil which focuses on men's football. Of course we would like to change that. Maybe one day we will have a strong competitive league instead of our women footballers always having to play abroad.