KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Last week, Marta was mad.
Usually, when she’s on the field with her nose toward goal, the three-time Olympic silver medalist visualizes repeating what she’s done many times over her lengthy career. She allows the joy to flow through her, down to her left foot and into the ball.
But she got a little heated with the opposition during last weekend’s NWSL semifinal between her Orlando Pride and the Kansas City Current.
“I tried to be nice most of the time during the game,” Marta said Thursday, to a rapt audience of reporters around her table at the NWSL championship media day.
There was a player on the Current who she exchanged words nicely with, according to the Brazilian. But the player, Marta declined to name names, was being “a little bit diva”.
“And I said, ‘Wow, all right. You made me mad. I’m going to go one-on-one against you’,” Marta said.
Marta picked up the ball in the center circle after forward Barbra Banda poked it away from Current defender Kayla Sharples. Marta faked out both Sharples and center back Alana Cook as they tried to challenge her, juked past goalkeeper Almuth Schult and got the shot off before outside back Hailie Mace could do anything, scoring the Pride’s crucial third goal in the 82nd minute of an eventual 3-2…
