Marta: NWSL Championship ranks as No. 1 game of my career

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Orlando Pride forward Marta held her right index finger in the air inside the swanky stadium club of CPKC Stadium to indicate the No. 1. This is where the six-time world player of the year ranks Saturday's NWSL Championship among all the games in her career, an illustrious one that includes a World Cup final and three Olympic gold-medal matches.

"The way we [played] from the beginning of the season to now, it's something very special that I never had before in any other club that I played for," Marta said.

She said the same thing about 24 hours earlier as she passionately thought back to her days as a 14-year-old who spent three days on a bus to get to Rio de Janeiro for a tryout. Marta's mom, Tereza Vieira de Sá, will be in CPKC Stadium on Saturday to see her daughter play for the first time in Marta's 11 seasons in the United States.

"Every single year I ask myself, 'Why am I still here?" Marta said on Thursday. "Maybe this year gave me the answer that I was looking for. Maybe it was because I need to be here to play the Championship in 2024 with this club, to enjoy this amazing season that we had."

Marta, 38, said repeatedly this week that she thinks she will play two more seasons, which would mean retiring at the end of 2026. Brazil will host the 2027 World Cup, a tournament that could change the trajectory of women's soccer in the country and one that the host team has a legitimate chance of winning for the first time.

But Marta also said multiple times this week in Kansas City that she has communicated to Brazilian national team head coach Arthur Elias that she is not looking to play in the 2027 World Cup. She will, however, continue to make herself available for selection in the buildup to the tournament to help the team prepare and help mentor young players.

Making sure a declaration also removes a certain amount of pressure from Marta, who has been a global superstar since bursting onto the scene as a 17-year-old at the 2003 World Cup.

Marta said this week that her rejuvenation has been both physical and mental this year. She has inspired herself at times, including for Sunday's goal, when she said she channeled anger at an unnamed opponent.

"You need to feel good with your body to help yourself do good things on the field," Marta said. "But it's more here [points to head]. Sometimes I just try to mentalize good things, mentalize something that I already did in my life as a soccer player, and it happened.

"But I was a little bit mad before I scored the goal. I tried to be nice most of the time during the game and I tried to speak to somebody else and she was a little bit diva. I said, OK, you made me mad. I'm gonna go 1-v-1 with you. It happened for a good reason and resulted in a nice goal and really important goal for the team."

Orlando is the narrow favorite in Saturday's championship. The Pride are the No. 1 seed after starting the season unbeaten through 23 games, a league record.

But the No. 2 seed Washington Spirit also won 18 games this year, a new league record, and finished only four points behind Orlando.

Marta has experienced heartbreak before, losing every major tournament final she has played in with Brazil. She has, however, won plenty of club trophies, including two championships in the NWSL's predecessor league.

On Saturday, she gets her first shot at an NWSL Championship.

"It's only one game, and I know how important it is," she said. "We know if we win this, it will be like a perfect season. But we can't forget about everything that we did this season."