The upsets at the World Cup might be the gift that keeps on giving.
Some veterans who made earlier-than-expected exits could now be enticed to stick around for next year’s Paris Olympics in the hope of ending their careers on a more positive note. That could include Marta, who left the door open Wednesday to playing in one more Olympics.
“Like I say, I’m not gonna play another World Cup. But I did (not) say I’m not gonna play the next Olympics,” the Brazilian superstar said after training with her club team, the Orlando Pride. “I don’t have the answer yet, but I work on to feeling day by day, if I still have that power that I can share with the team, with Brazil, and fight for a gold medal.”
Brazil’s star-studded team had hoped to win the World Cup for Marta, who is considered the greatest to ever play the game. Marta had said before the tournament that this World Cup, her sixth, would be her last. Instead, Brazil didn’t even make it out of the group stage, the first time since 1995 it didn’t reach the knockout rounds.
Brazil has never won a major international title, finishing as runners-up at the 2007 World Cup and silver medalists at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.
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“It was a very big disappointment, for me and for the whole team, at the World Cup,” Marta said. “We know we had the team to go a little bit more far in the competition.”
So who else might we see in Paris? Not Megan Rapinoe, who announced before the World Cup she’s retiring at the end of the club season. Julie Ertz indicated after the U.S. women’s round-of-16 loss, their earliest exit ever at a major tournament, this was it for her, too.
But Wendie Renard, one of the greatest defenders of all time, is expected to keep going through the Olympics in her own country. Canada has not yet qualified for Paris — only four teams, including host France, have locked up spots in the 12-team tournament — but if the champions from the Tokyo Games do, expect all-time international scoring leader Christine Sinclair to try and defend her team’s gold medal.
Olympic qualifying continues through next spring, so it will be several more months before we know which veteran stars are done and which ones we’ll get to see one more time.
