Odds Against Marta Retiring After 2019 Women’s World Cup
- Marta leads Brazil into France 2019
- The top goalscorer in Women’s World Cup history
- Rumors of her retirement
The top women’s soccer players in the world congregate in France over the next month as the 2019 Women’s World Cup kicks off.
The USA and France start the tournament as joint-favorites, but behind them are a group who will fancy their chances of taking the trophy home – among them Germany, England and the Netherlands – but there are loads of other talking points, like will this be the final hurrah of the world’s greatest player, Brazil’s Marta?
Odds Will Marta Retire After the World Cup
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Yes | +400 |
| No | -600 |
*Odds taken June 5, 2019
In a career that that’s spanned 15 seasons, Marta has scored 104 goals for her country – something that will be a problem for Brazil if she calls time on her soccer career. The odds suggest that she will continue playing, with payouts dependent on her publicly announcing her retirement after the World Cup by December 31, 2019.
Marta to play in the Women's Super League? The Brazil star tells the BBC it's a possibilityhttps://t.co/mTJLl8pdUO pic.twitter.com/O4szVeLHIF
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) February 8, 2016
In addition to missing her goals, Brazil’s women’s team would also miss a leader – one who sets an example to the younger members of the squad – but a player as prolific as her in front of goal would be almost irreplaceable.
Top Scorer
She is the all-time Women’s World Cup top scorer with 15 goals in 17 games, her 15th goal putting her level with another Brazilian legend, Ronaldo, and has won the World Player of the Year award no less than six times – winning it from 2006 to 2010 and then again in 2018.
Her roll of honor is immense:
- UEFA Women’s Cup winner (2004)
- Olympic silver medals (2004 and 2008)
- Golden Boot winner in Sweden (2004, 2005 and 2008)
- Women’s World Cup Golden Ball winner (2007)
- Women’s Copa America winner (2018)
- Her country’s flag bearer at the Rio Olympics (2016)
Her famed close control and ability to dribble have made her a crowd-pleaser throughout her career, and if she does decide to retire it will leave a big hole in the international game.
Still Awaiting the Biggest Prize
While she had said little to suggest she will decide to hang up her boots, it’s worth noting that she has never won the game’s biggest prize, the World Cup, with the closest being a World Cup runner-up in 2007
She also has two runners-up medals from the Olympics – from 2004 and 2008.
Marta, Brazil's brilliant football nomad | By @carriesparkle https://t.co/uNinFW3Tp1 pic.twitter.com/j69J6XRvu3
— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) August 3, 2016
As with all superstars, she will desperately want the full set of medals and if Brazil miss out this month, then that in itself may act as an incentive for Marta to continue playing.
The Incentive to Continue?
Worth noting too is that Marta is 33-years-old and has spoken in the last few months, maybe tongue-in-cheek, about emulating her international colleague Formiga, who is still playing at the ripe old age of 41.
So, while it’s conceivable that she may surprise us all and call time, we think Marta will be around the international scene for a little while yet and so even at -600, we consider it worth a bet.
Once just a sports fanatic, fan-turned-writer Gary Gowers has been featured on European television and radio networks to discuss several professional football clubs. His work can be found in an assortment of publications like The Metro, MyFootballWriter.com, and BBC Radio Norfolk.
