Formiga bids emotional farewell to Brazil

Brazilian soccer legend Formiga said an emotional goodbye to the national team after racking up a multitude of records in a 26-year career that included seven World Cups and seven Olympics.

The 43-year-old midfielder played her final match for the Selecao on Thursday, going out with a 6-1 drubbing of India in a friendly in Manaus.

"It was marvelous. It couldn't have been better," she said in comments published on Friday by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF).

"The scoreboard was marvelous. It was just the way I'd imagined. Thank you everyone."

The iconic No 8 came on in the 78th minute and had a couple of chances to add to the lopsided score, but did not manage to convert.

That did not appear to dampen her spirits after the match, her 234th for the national team－a figure unrivaled in Brazilian soccer, men's and women's alike.

Formiga, who left Paris Saint-Germain in June to sign with Sao Paulo FC until December 2022, is the only player to have played in all seven editions of the women's Olympic soccer tournament.

She won two silver medals along the way, in 2004 and 2008.

She is also the only player, man or woman, to play in seven World Cups.

She holds the records for oldest World Cup player (41 years, in 2019) and oldest scorer in the tournament (37 years, in 2015).

Tributes poured in from some of the biggest names in Brazilian soccer, including Pele, Marta and Neymar.

"Congratulations with all my heart," Pele said in a video message.

"Long live Brazil, and long live Formiga!"

Marta said it was "difficult to imagine the Selecao without Formiga, without the drive she always brought to practices and matches".

Formiga, whose nickname means "ant", was born Miraildes Maciel Mota in the northeastern city of Salvador in 1978.

At the time, it was illegal for women in Brazil to play soccer, a sport deemed "incompatible with their nature" under a 1941 law that was repealed in 1979.

She made her debut with the national team in 1995, at age 17.

For the first time in her storied career, her mother, Celeste, was present in the stadium to watch her on Thursday.

She recalled how her daughter used to face "a lot of prejudice" as a girl for playing soccer.

It didn't stop her.

"She just wanted to play ball all the time," she said.

AFP