ORLANDO, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian football star Marta said Friday that Orlando Pride's resolve to develop women's football convinced her to join the National Women's Soccer League franchise.
Marta gave her first press conference since arriving in the United States on Thursday and expressed surprise at the reception that local fans had given her.
"Since Orlando took the initiative to build a women's soccer team, it showed that it has the same intent [that] it has for the men's team," the five-time FIFA world player of the year said.
"Also, the way the people of Orlando, the city breathes soccer, lives soccer. That is a great thing for an athlete when local people are so involved with a sport.
"It was surprising to see that amount of people at the airport to greet me when I arrived because it was also late at night, about 10:30pm. It was very exciting. I was very happy."
The 31-year-old signed with Orlando on a two-year deal after parting ways with Sweden's Rosengard earlier this year.
She is not the only high-profile Brazilian in Orlando, with 2007 FIFA men's world player of the year Kaka playing at Pride's sister club, Orlando City.
As she approaches the twilight of her career, Marta said she now draws as much satisfaction by helping others as she does by her own personal success.
"As an attacker, part of our job is to score goals. So, I'll do my best to score my goals, but there aren't going to be any miracles," she said.
"The important thing is try to get the best of each player and I'm going to do my best for them to reach their best and, all together, we are going to try to help get in a better place."
