Marta became the first player to score in five straight Olympics when Brazil beat China 5-0 on Wednesday in the women’s football tournament.
Marta finished with a pair of goals for Brazil, who are ranked No. 7 in the world. Debinha, Andressa Alves and Beatriz also scored.
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A six-time FIFA Player of the Year, Marta has 111 international goals, more than any Brazilian player, male or female. After her goal in the ninth minute, Debinha added another in the 22nd to put Brazil 2-0 up.
Marta added her second goal in the 74th minute before Alves scored from the penalty spot. Beatriz closed out the rout with a goal in the 89th.
Brazil’s 43-year-old Formiga also wrote her name into the record books against China as the first women’s football player to take part in seven Olympic Games.
Formiga, who made her Brazil debut at the 1995 World Cup as a 17-year-old, has played in every Olympic tournament since women’s football made its debut at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
The Sao Paulo midfielder is looking to finish her career with an elusive gold medal having won the silver in 2004 and 2008, while the 2016 Games in Rio ended in heartbreak when the home team lost their semifinal and the bronze medal match.
Brazil were playing their first major tournament under Pia Sundhage, the former coach of both the U.S. and Swedish women. Sundhage coached the U.S. team that won the gold medal at the 2012 London Games.
China, ranked No. 15, qualified as runner-up at the Asian qualifying tournament. The Chinese were making their fifth Olympic appearance. The team’s best finish was runner-up in 1996.
China’s squad for Tokyo is largely inexperienced, with only five players left over from the roster for the 2016 Games.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
