Marta on top of the world

There is nothing new in the best Brazilians plying their trade in Europe. But rather than the temperate climates of Italy and Spain, one world-class player has come to northern Sweden to taste continental success. But then this is female football, and FIFA Women's World Player of the Year Marta Vieira da Silva is about to take part in another European final with Umeå IK.

Adapting
Marta, who hails from the rural north-east of Brazil, came to Umeå via Rio de Janeiro aged 18 in March 2004, having helped her nation to the FIFA Women's World Cup quarter-finals a few months before. Within a month she had scored the winner in both legs of the UEFA Women's Cup last-four tie against Brøndby IF and then added three more in the 8-0 aggregate final defeat of 1. FFC Frankfurt. Now 21 she has continued to shine on the domestic and international stages, culminating with being named the world's best in December alongside Fabio Cannavaro. But making the move to Sweden was a big step. "Now I've got used to it I like living here, but in the beginning it was very hard: a different language, the cold, the culture, the food..." Marta told uefa.com. "But now I already feel a bit Swedish in that sense."

European bid
She has blossomed during that time. Marta has already totalled 62 goals for her club and helped Umeå cruise to two championships in a row, as well as inspiring them to the European final against Arsenal LFC. The home first leg is on Saturday as the Swedish giants bid for an unprecedented third triumph. "I've been confident since the beginning of our European campaign that we would reach the final, and now that confidence has grown even more," she said.

Arsenal encounter
It is Umeå's first encounter with Arsenal, and Marta admits: "I've never seen them play. The comments I've heard say they are a good team, a strong squad with fast players. They are very skilful and we know it won't be easy, but we're preparing ourselves not to let this title escape." The Brazilian had a happy introduction to the UEFA Women's Cup in 2004. "For me it marked a pleasant arrival, as I had just joined the club and we went straight into the semi-finals and then reached the final. It was a welcome title for me to get off on the right foot."

World's best
That year, having also helped Brazil win Olympic silver, she was third in the FIFA world player poll then came second in 2005 before finishing first last December. "This individual award was something I have always worked for, ever since I started playing football when I was seven or eight," Marta said. "It was a fantastic achievement and came at the right moment."

Modest aims
At 21 Marta still has a long career ahead of her. She shares an agent with Ronaldo, was linked with lucrative contracts elsewhere before committing to Umeå for 2007 and has been celebrated with a Swedish TV documentary 'Marta - Pelé's Cousin'. But her aims are modest. "I'm not a very ambitious person," she says. "All I ask is that God gives me good health so I can keep training and playing for at least another ten years, and also win important titles with the Brazilian team and my club."

This is a shortened version a feature that appears in this week's edition of the uefa.com Magazine. To read the story in full, click here.