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Give And Go: Los Angeles Sol's Marta
She's the top player in women's soccer today. Goal.com scored an exclusive interview with Marta.
May 14, 2009 1:31:49 PM
She's already claimed the top prize as the FIFA Women's Player of the Year multiple times, but now Marta is earning new accolades in Women's Professional Soccer - she's going to be immortalized as a bobblehead.
The popular give-away will be a first for both the league and Marta and is only available through a special Sol ticket package.
"I am honored to be chosen for the first bobblehead in WPS history,” Marta said.
Marta has been living up to her celebrity by racking up goals and assists for the Sol, helping push the squad to the top of the table in the early days of the league. Goal.com's chief editor, Andrea Canales, had an exclusive interview with the star.
Andrea Canales: After these six games with the Sol in Women's Professional Soccer, how do you feel your team is doing?
Marta: Well, for one of those games, I wasn't with the team. I was with the Brazilian women's national team for a game. But we're doing very well in league play. The other teams are very good, but we're in first place. The difficult part is that the other teams are all so good. They play very well, so we have to work hard to win the league.
Is the league what you expected and hoped for when you decided to leave Sweden and come to the United States?
Yes. We knew that they were bringing the best players here, and that they play good soccer. The seven teams are very competitive - so the league is at a high level. There's not one single team that is seen as clearly superior, as the absolute best in the league, because the teams are so close to one another. The games are close, too. A team will win one game, draw another - it's not the same team winning every game easily.
There's a lot of parity. That's what I imagined it would be, because here we have the best players.
On the Sol, do you feel pressure because you're scoring most of the goals for the team?
No. I believe that's my job and my role on the team. For me, it's perfectly normal to be scoring the goals. All players have different responsibilities on a squad, and some have more opportunities to score. If someone plays up front instead of in the back, scoring is what they need to do. If I have an opportunity to help my team, I'm going to do that. It's not just the attacker's responsibility to score, though. It's the job of the whole team. If I get that opportunity, however, I'm going to try to score. And because of where I function on the team, it's logical that I get those chances.
What's different about the soccer here, compared to the soccer in Europe, where you played in Sweden with Umea?
There's not that much different. It might be a little different in the way that a team works, the formations that a coach uses. Players are different, and when a coach has different players, they'll change a team to the players. The game, though, when you step on to the field, is still the same. It's tough, with hard tackles and competitive games, and it was like that in Sweden, too.
What about when you play with Brazil and the women's national team?
The Brazilian women's team had two games recently, where we drew versus Germany and they're one of the toughest teams in the world. That was a difficult game. We also played Sweden, which is really progressing. They were in the final of the Algarve Cup and beat the U.S., so they're getting strong. They beat us, so we didn't win either of the two games. I think that Brazil should play more friendlies to get to the best level possible before entering international competition. I think that's the next thing we need to work on to improve.
Daniela, a teammate of yours on the Brazilian team, was recently injured in league play by Abby Wambach - what's your opinion of that situation? Some believe the tackle was dangerous.
I think everywhere, there are players who challenge very hard. What the league needs to do is to analyze the form of the challenge to see if there was anything bad involved in it. Some players are malicious. It's one thing to go in hard and get the ball, it's another thing to go in to hit a player. So tackles should be reviewed carefully to see which situation it is. I'm not saying this to defend Daniela, it's more that her injury was really brutal. Normally, a player who goes in hard gets the ball, but unfortunately, it was a hard play that resulted in a bad injury for Daniela and I hope she recovers as soon as possible so she can return to the game.
What is the press coverage like in Brazil of you and your new team - do people there follow the league?
Yes. With the Internet, people are able to go to the league site and see videos of the teams playing. We do interviews with media from around the world. Different reports come out about the league and my friends in Brazil are able to keep up with my games and how the Sol is doing.
What's been the best thing about coming to Los Angeles?
The weather here is wonderful.
Give and Go runs Thursdays on Goal.com
Follow women's soccer on Goal.com.
The popular give-away will be a first for both the league and Marta and is only available through a special Sol ticket package.
"I am honored to be chosen for the first bobblehead in WPS history,” Marta said.
Marta has been living up to her celebrity by racking up goals and assists for the Sol, helping push the squad to the top of the table in the early days of the league. Goal.com's chief editor, Andrea Canales, had an exclusive interview with the star.
Andrea Canales: After these six games with the Sol in Women's Professional Soccer, how do you feel your team is doing?
Marta: Well, for one of those games, I wasn't with the team. I was with the Brazilian women's national team for a game. But we're doing very well in league play. The other teams are very good, but we're in first place. The difficult part is that the other teams are all so good. They play very well, so we have to work hard to win the league.
Is the league what you expected and hoped for when you decided to leave Sweden and come to the United States?
Yes. We knew that they were bringing the best players here, and that they play good soccer. The seven teams are very competitive - so the league is at a high level. There's not one single team that is seen as clearly superior, as the absolute best in the league, because the teams are so close to one another. The games are close, too. A team will win one game, draw another - it's not the same team winning every game easily.
There's a lot of parity. That's what I imagined it would be, because here we have the best players.
On the Sol, do you feel pressure because you're scoring most of the goals for the team?
No. I believe that's my job and my role on the team. For me, it's perfectly normal to be scoring the goals. All players have different responsibilities on a squad, and some have more opportunities to score. If someone plays up front instead of in the back, scoring is what they need to do. If I have an opportunity to help my team, I'm going to do that. It's not just the attacker's responsibility to score, though. It's the job of the whole team. If I get that opportunity, however, I'm going to try to score. And because of where I function on the team, it's logical that I get those chances.
What's different about the soccer here, compared to the soccer in Europe, where you played in Sweden with Umea?
There's not that much different. It might be a little different in the way that a team works, the formations that a coach uses. Players are different, and when a coach has different players, they'll change a team to the players. The game, though, when you step on to the field, is still the same. It's tough, with hard tackles and competitive games, and it was like that in Sweden, too.
What about when you play with Brazil and the women's national team?
The Brazilian women's team had two games recently, where we drew versus Germany and they're one of the toughest teams in the world. That was a difficult game. We also played Sweden, which is really progressing. They were in the final of the Algarve Cup and beat the U.S., so they're getting strong. They beat us, so we didn't win either of the two games. I think that Brazil should play more friendlies to get to the best level possible before entering international competition. I think that's the next thing we need to work on to improve.
Daniela, a teammate of yours on the Brazilian team, was recently injured in league play by Abby Wambach - what's your opinion of that situation? Some believe the tackle was dangerous.
I think everywhere, there are players who challenge very hard. What the league needs to do is to analyze the form of the challenge to see if there was anything bad involved in it. Some players are malicious. It's one thing to go in hard and get the ball, it's another thing to go in to hit a player. So tackles should be reviewed carefully to see which situation it is. I'm not saying this to defend Daniela, it's more that her injury was really brutal. Normally, a player who goes in hard gets the ball, but unfortunately, it was a hard play that resulted in a bad injury for Daniela and I hope she recovers as soon as possible so she can return to the game.
What is the press coverage like in Brazil of you and your new team - do people there follow the league?
Yes. With the Internet, people are able to go to the league site and see videos of the teams playing. We do interviews with media from around the world. Different reports come out about the league and my friends in Brazil are able to keep up with my games and how the Sol is doing.
What's been the best thing about coming to Los Angeles?
The weather here is wonderful.
Give and Go runs Thursdays on Goal.com
Follow women's soccer on Goal.com.
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