Marta's Last Dance: Brazil legend's quest for illusive gold medal driving Selecao's shock Olympic final run

Back in 2004, women’s soccer was not in the place it is now. There was limited media coverage, a serious lack of broadcasting and few opportunities for its athletes to be full-time professionals. Opposition scouting, then, was far from easy – and yet, when Australia prepared to come up against Brazil at the Olympic Games, the Matildas’ staff had full knowledge of the big threat they needed to be aware of. That was an 18-year-old by the name of Marta.

Focusing on one player wasn’t something the team usually did before a match. “Why were we actually doing video on her and breaking down her game specifically? That was a bit unique,” Sacha Wainwright, the former Australia defender, recalls. “We didn’t usually focus on individual players as such, maybe a couple of the Americans and then there was Marta. I think she only had maybe 10 or 15 international caps at that stage.”

The reasons for such emphasis became apparent quickly. With just 34 minutes on the clock, Marta cut inside from the right and found the back of the net with her deadly left foot, just as the Australia staff had feared. “We were on our toes, mainly trying to counter her in that game, and it didn't work,” Wainwright laughs.

Over the last 20 years, Marta has rendered plenty more defenders’ efforts futile with otherworldly talent that leaves few questioning her status as the greatest player in the history of the women’s game. Now aged 38, she has the chance to win a first major international title at the final attempt when Brazil faces the United States women's national team in Saturday's Olympic gold medal match. Will it be the perfect send off for this icon of the game?