Victory at Women's World Cup Would Cement Marta's Legacy

This is just the start of Marta's fourth World Cup, and she has already made history. A penalty against South Korea on Tuesday gave her a record 15 goals in the Women's World Cup, breaking a tie with former Germany striker Birgit Prinz.

Prinz had 14 goals in 24 matches. The next closest player, Abby Wambach, has 13 goals in 19 World Cup fixtures.

Marta has 15 in 15. Perfect.

That's her career: a goal-per-game threat on a Brazil national team that has not won a title on the world stage—although the women's game only earned its own World Cup in 1991.

Her resume includes five consecutive Player of the Year awards and two Olympic silver medals. For someone on top of the sport, Marta has had particular difficulty lifting her team to international glory.

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Marta is 29 years old now, and winning this year's tournament in Canada would both end a drought and consolidate a legacy that already reads something like a legend.

Just to reach this level, Marta had to overcome prejudice in rural north-east Brazil.

"As I got older and became a teenager there were more people criticising me," she told BBC World Service. "For example, 'This is not a sport for you, go find something else to do in an area for women.'"

Raised by a single mother, Marta grew up in a place "where most people scratch out a living in agriculture," writes Bonnie D. Ford of espnW. There were no female teams there. She played with the boys, and even set off on a three-day bus ride to Rio de Janeiro just for a tryout, according to Ford.

But Marta wasn't ever afraid to travel and find new places to play. In 2004, she switched the sun for the snow. The fact that she played so close to the Arctic with Swedish club Umea didn't really faze her. And she moved several times after: to Los Angeles, back to Brazil and to Sweden again with Rosengard.

"She always feels like she has something to prove," team-mate Ali Riley told espnW. "You go into it expecting she might be a bit of a diva, which she probably has the right to be, but she's not."

Despite her success—including 92 goals in 93 appearances with Brazil—Marta doesn't make millions like Neymar. According to the Swedish Tax Authority (h/t Bloomberg), Marta made just $190,000 (US) in 2013 when she was with the club Tyresoe. Marta has sponsorships with Coke and Puma, but it pales in comparison to the riches of the men's game.

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But all those individual achievements add up to something. They mean a lot back home, where Marta now sees more women playing football. Her goals are the same as the girls' in Brazil: to have the courage to do what they want.

"When I stop playing and could look back and say that we managed to achieve one of our dreams, because this dream is not just mine," Marta told BBC World Service. "It's a dream for the girls that make up the team and all the other girls back in Brazil that are rooting for our success. It represents a lot to me and all the girls who dream about becoming a professional athlete."

Almost 12 years since her first international goal—also a penalty against South Korea—Marta has reached the pinnacle. World Cup victory this year would leave her nothing else to prove.