Like many of her male compatriots, Marta got her start playing barefoot on the streets of a small impoverished town in northeastern Brazil.
Unlike the men who merely lacked boots, however, Marta also lacked infrastructure.
From 1941 to 1979—just seven years before Marta was born—it was literally illegal for women to play soccer in Brazil (it was deemed dangerously unfeminine), and that attitude still permeated Brazilian society.
Marta not only had to beat her opponents.
She had to constantly prove women belonged on the football field in the first place.
Gods of Soccer: Marta 🇧🇷