Marta starts walking towards the last Cup; see the list – 06/27/2023 – Sport

With the list of 23 names announced this Tuesday (27), Pia Sundhage started the countdown to the last Marta World Cup.

The 37-year-old attacking midfielder will have her last hope of winning a major title with the Brazilian national team in the tournament to be played in Australia and New Zealand. She will compete in her sixth world championship.

Elected the best on the planet six times (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2018), Marta was part of the vice 2007 team. She was also a silver medalist at the 2004 Athens Olympics and 2008 Beijing Olympics.

“Undoubtedly [será a última Copa]. I’m fine. I’m not the Marta of 20 years ago, but I’m fine, mentally even better. I hope to arrive well to help this team and make this big dream come true”, said the ace to Cazé TV.

In the last Cup, in 2019, she pinned teammates. After the elimination in the round of 16 against France, she asked for greater commitment in the future for the players of the selection. The criticism was not well received by all of the cast.

The comparison with Lionel Messi becomes inevitable. Just like Marta, the biggest winner of the best in the world award (now seven times), but among men, he warned that the Qatar tournament, in 2022, would be his last chance to reach the maximum glory in football. It worked. Argentina was champion and he ended up being elected the star of the competition.

In what were considered the final tests for the team before the call-up, Marta was not present. With an injury to the biceps femoris, he ended up cut from the squad and stayed in Orlando, in the United States, while Pia’s men lost on penalties in the Finalist against England (after a 1-1 draw) and defeated Germany 2-1 in Nuremberg , in April.

Marta’s recovery is a relief for Pia after other athletes’ injury problems in recent months. Striker Ludmilla, from Atlético de Madrid-ESP, and goalkeeper Lorena, from Grêmio, are absent because of knee injuries.

The base of the list is made up of the players who were called to the Finalissima. Although most of them operate outside the country, there are seven calls for the World Cup that play in Brazil. The number is much higher than those selected by Tite for the World Cup in Qatar, last year. Only three were active in national teams.

The summoned start the first phase of training this week. Before the trip to Brisbane, Australia, which will be the Brazilian base in the Cup, the team will face Chile next Sunday (2), at the Mané Garrincha Stadium, in Brasília.

Brazil is in Group F of the Women’s World Cup, alongside Panama, France and Jamaica. The debut will be on the 24th, against the Panamanians.

See below the list of summoned by Pia Sundhage for the World Cup:

Goalkeepers: Letícia Izidoro (Corinthians), Luciana (Railway) and Camila (Santos).

Sides: Antônia (Levante-ESP), Bruninha (NY/NJ Gotham-USA) and Tamires (Corinthians).

defenders: Kathellen (Real Madrid-ESP), Lauren (Madrid CFF-ESP), Monica Hickman (Madrid CFF-ESP) and Rafaelle (Arsenal-ING).

Midfielders: Adriana (Orlando Pride-USA), Ary Borges (Racing Louisville-USA), Duda Sampaio (Corinthians), Andressa Alves (Roma-ITA), Luana (Corinthians), Ana Vitória (Benfica-POR).

Attackers: Bia Zaneratto (Palmeiras), Debinha (Kansas City Current-USA), Geyse (Barcelona-ESP), Kerolin (North Carolina Courage-USA), Nicole (Benfica-POR), Gabi Nunes (Madrid CFF-ESP) and Marta (Orlando Pride-USA).