Lauletta: Marta still bringing the energy at 38

Photo Copyright Rob Gray for USA TODAY Sports

To watch the 2024 version of Marta play soccer, you’d never guess she is 38, much closer to the end of the road than the start. Friday night in Utah, the Orlando Pride lined up sans the Brazilian legend for the first time this season, an understandable development considering she was in with her national team during the recent FIFA break.

In the 62nd minute of a sleepy affair in the Wasatch Valley, Pride coach Seb Hines called on Marta as a sub. The energy on the field changed immediately, and six minutes after arriving in the match, Marta scored its only goal. She started the play, and then finished it with precision. It was her second goal of the season following her brilliant finish against Angel City three weeks earlier that stole a late point for the Pride.

“We were mindful of her energy levels,” Hines said “She played 90 minutes for Brazil on Tuesday and it was a quick turnaround with the travel. To come off the bench and make an impact, there’s no better way than scoring the winning goal.”

“She completely changed the game when she came on the field,” Kylie Strom said. “She scored a goal like that with her right foot? Like come on. You can’t stop her.”

Twenty-five months ago, Marta tore her left ACL in a Challenge Cup match in North Carolina. It felt like it could have been the end of the line for a player who first graced us with her brilliance as a 17-year-old at the 2003 World Cup and who had not only been one of the best players in the world, but one of the most durable. She returned to play in 2023 but looked a step slow. Marta scored four goals last season, all from the spot.

She came back for 2024 full of energy.

“That’s the perfect way to describe it,” Kerry Abello—who assisted on Marta’s goal—said when it was suggested that Marta had the most energy even as the oldest player in the team.  “She’s the most energetic. She brings this childlike joy and passion to the game that is really unmatched.”

At the height of Marta’s powers, she could run circles around the best defenses in the world. She first played in a U.S. league in 2009 with the L.A. Sol in the WPS. Franchise instability led Marta to playing for three teams in three WPS seasons. All of them finished top-of-table and two of them—2010 FC Gold Pride and 2011 Western New York Flash—won championships. She returned in 2017, with the Pride, and teamed with Alex Morgan to lead the club on a whirlwind 8-2-1 finish and the first and only playoff appearance.

As the 30s creep toward their conclusion—only Christine Sinclair and Becky Sauerbrunn are older among National Women’s Soccer League field players—the skills are not quite what they once were. But the passion and energy remain. And the skills still show themselves, more so this year than for a few years.

“She drives the standard,” Strom said. “Honestly, it’s such an honor and a privilege that I get to share the pitch with her every day. She makes all of us so much better.”

The Pride did not make Marta available postgame.

Around the league

Royals 0, Pride 1: 

Marta had the goal, as discussed above, and the Royals continued to struggle to create attack. First round pick Brecken Mozingo made her first career start and held her own, but the Royals are certainly a work in progress four games into their existence.

Dash 1, Spirit 3: 

The Dash celebrated the 10th anniversary of their inaugural match by doing what they do best—lose at home. Despite tallying in the first minute and keeping the Spirit off balance for the first 20 minutes or so the home side had few answers once Washington got things figured out. It has become increasingly evident the Dash do not have the personnel to pull off Fran Alonso’s possession-based system, but credit to him for pushing forward. The system may have accounted for the first Spirit goal, the other two were defensive shortcomings.

On the game-winner, Brittany Ratcliffe stone beat Courtney Petersen. After that, recovering midfielder Elin Rubensson overshot the play, leaving Ratcliffe the needed space to unfurl her golazo. Less than three minutes later, Croix Bethune was allowed to wander free to the far post where she easily finished Gabrielle Carle’s cross.

The match was the Dash’s 103rd regular-season run at Shell Energy Stadium. They are 31-44-28. They also lost two “home” matches at alternate venues when they were displaced by Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

The Spirit, by the way, have won three straight.

Courage  2, Thorns 0: 

The Courage made the most of some early chances while the Thorns could not take anything from their best moments and slipped to the bottom of the table amidst the worst start the club has ever known. Former Thorn Tyler Lussi was the star of the show. In the sixth minute, she finished an Ashley Sanchez corner kick after it bounced in the box. In the 35th she found Haley Hopkins inside the six and she made it 2-0 by getting inside position on Thorns right back Marie Muller.

The Thorns took 14 shots to the Courage’s 8 but saw their club-record winless streak in all competitions extended to six. The Thorns last won last Oct. 7 against Gotham to move into pole position for the Shield. But they lost 5-1 the next week at Angel City, then a home playoff match to Gotham, and are 0-3-1 this regular season. Coach Mike Norris did not feature Meghan Klingenberg in the match even though her 45 minutes in Louisville before the FIFA break coincided with the Thorns’ best half of the season.

Meanwhile the Courage are quietly 3-1-0 and have two consecutive clean sheets.

Louisville 0, Wave 0: 

Racing remained undefeated but still wanting after their fourth straight draw to open the season. They did collect a second shutout but were unable to get anything by Wave keeper Kailen Sheridan even as their guests played without two-time reigning Defender of the Year, Naomi Girma. First-round pick Kennedy Wesley made her first professional start in place of Girma, who was held out for precautionary reasons following a stint with the United States national team.

Louisville welcomed Savannah DeMelo back to midfield and were likely the stronger side on the day but in the end were unable to find the back of the net.

Red Stars 0, Angel City 1: 

In a tale-of-two-halves match in the Windy City, the visitors stole a goal late in the 1st half to take their first win of the season. It looked like one Alyssa Naeher save and a superb Tatumn Milazzo goal-line clearance were going to get the Red Stars through a shaky opening half at 0-0, but a late set piece dropped at the feet of two players and Maximiliane Rall inadvertently redirected it in for an own goal. The Red Stars flipped the script in the second half but were unable to equalize.

The absence of Mallory Swanson, who took a minor hip injury with the national team, was noticeable in the lack of bite in the Red Stars attack. Jenna Bike continued her emergence this season and Ally Schlegel had some bright moments as well. Angel City made a keeper change, inserting DiDi Haracic for the struggling Angelina Anderson. Haracic helped hold a high line in the first half and looked comfortable in possession on her way to a clean sheet.

Gotham 1, Current 1: 

The Current dropped points for the first time but remained undefeated. They also lost Temwa Chawinga to what looked like a troubling injury late in the match. The Malawian sensation accounted for the Current goal at the end of a first-half counterattack. Chawinga used her blistering speed to outpace both Gotham central defenders and Bia Zaneratto picked the perfect moment to play the ball through.

Gotham started a tepid lineup with several players fresh off international duty. They inserted Crystal Dunn and Jenna Nighswonger at halftime and promptly took control of the match. The equalizer came on a corner kick when Esther was left completely unmarked at the back post on a corner kick and easily headed in Yazmeen Ryan’s ball. A later corner kick yielded the same situation, but it landed near Esther’s feet and she misfired on the awkward shot.

Lynn Williams played the final 32 minutes for Gotham, her first of the season after injury.

Bay 3, Reign 2: 

Bay FC continued the trend of playing thrillers and eventually sent their fans home with a win for the first time. The winning goal was an own goal when Alana Cook reached her leg out and deflected an innocuous cross past keeper Laurel Ivory.

The teams traded goals all night with the Reign also benefitting from an own goal. Kayla Sharples scored against her team but helped get it back when she finished Emily Menges’ second ball off a corner to make it 1-1 early in the 2nd half. Bay then took the lead through an epic strike off the foot of Alexis Loera. The winning own goal came four minutes after Bethany Balcer joined the 30-goal club to tie it again.

Ivory was in because Reign starter Claudia Dickey had to come off with an injury. She received treatment after the first Bay goal after appearing to twist her knee, but elected to stay in. Following the Loera goal, Dickey went down again and appeared to mouth “I can’t move” before coming off. She did not move much on the Loera shot but also may have been screened. The minutes were Ivory’s first in the regular season. She has started four Challenge Cup matches.

Talking Points

An ESPN report on Sunday said that Dash midfielder Maria Sanchez has requested a trade. The 28-year-old Mexican re-signed with the Dash as a restricted free agent last offseason. The deal was the most lucrative in league history at the time. The report was made by Jeff Kassouf, who is the owner of The Equalizer.

This will mark the first time a prominent player’s trade request has been made public prior to moving off her team. The Dash are off to a rough start in 2024. New coach Fran Alonso has installed a possession-based, three-back system which has yielded 10 goals in four matches. That includes a 0-0 draw in which the Dash were under siege from Racing Louisville for most of the 90 minutes. Last season the Dash, who missed the playoffs, conceded only 18 goals in 22 matches. It was not clear based on the report why Sanchez has quested the trade. Houston-based journalist Theo Lloyd-Hughes confirmed the original report and added the request was made prior to the Dash’s win over Bay FC ahead of the FIFA window.

The Dash released a terse statement to ESPN that reads:  “Maria Sanchez is under contract, a choice she made in free agency at the end of 2023.”

That is not exactly a warm and fuzzy statement or one that hints the club is willing to either honor the request or make good on whatever reasons Sanchez has for wanting to be elsewhere.

Complicating matters is that the league’s trade window closes Friday and that clubs may not be able to take on Sanchez’s salary under the cap. Of course, salary numbers are not made public so there is little recourse for knowing which teams have the available space or which players may be a salary match as part of a return package.

This figures to be the story of the week around NWSL. Stay tuned.

Free Kicks

Sam Staab is now the all-time leader in consecutive regular season games played with 94. The streak dates to her NWSL debut as a rookie in 2019 with the Washington Spirit and covers her entire NWSL career. The streak survived some nagging injuries in 2020 when there was no regular season and a red card in 2021 that was overturned by the league Disciplinary Committee. The record came at the expense of Amber Brooks whose 93 straight appearances spanned 2016-2021. The Red Stars are playing at Wrigley Field, the first significant development highlighting ownership by the Ricketts Family who also owns the Chicago Cubs. The match is June 8 against Bay FC (moved from June 9) and according to the NWSL website, will be shown on ION. Baseball stadiums often offer odd sightlines for soccer (see New York City FC at Yankee Stadium). But the game will bring unprecedented visibility to a club that can use it, and Wrigley is a prime location as opposed to the outpost called SeatGeek Stadium where the club plays regular home games. The VAR checks seemed to have been expedited this week but there were still some games with copious amounts of stoppage time. Hoping the injuries to Temwa Chawinga and Claudia Dickey are not serious, but neither looked good, especially Chawinga. Mallory Swanson and Lysianne Proulx were held out after the international window. The injuries are piling up early this season. Laurel Ivory may have played her first regular season minutes on Sunday, but she does have some prior stats under her belt. On June 24 last year, Ivory was shown a yellow card for dissent from the bench. The Current’s 12 goals through four games are a new NWSL high, breaking the mark of 11 set by the Thorns in 2019 and matched by the Thorns in 2023. Neither of those Thorns teams nor this year’s Current won all four games. Looking ahead, the record through five games is 14 by the 2017 Reign and 2023 Thorns. The own goal against Alana Cool was her fourth. That’s more than any other NWSL player. Red Stars fans were subjected to an 8:30 p.m. kickoff Saturday night, a nod to ION’s promised weekly doubleheader. Odd start times to placate television have been around since Monday Night Football started in 1970. But the genesis of these inconveniences is strong fanbases who will show up no matter the day or time. The Chicago Red Stars are not there.