TOP 5 PLAYERS TO WATCH
Marta, Brazil
She dominated Women’s Professional Soccer in the U.S. until the league folded. She is tied with Germany’s Birgit Prinz for the most World Cup goals in history (14). She is only 29 years old and is playing in her fourth World Cup. She won five consecutive FIFA Player of the Year awards. If Marta is not the greatest player of all time, it’s only because she hasn’t won the World Cup.
Carli Lloyd, U.S.A.
Since scoring the game-winning goal in the 2008 Olympic final, Lloyd, 32, has developed into the top
U.S. playmaker, the true No. 10 in the midfield. The Jersey native and Rutgers product is often overshadowed by Hope Solo’s shenanigans or Abby Wambach’s milestones or Alex Morgan’s emergence, but she enters Canada as the best American player and
the highest-scoring midfielder in team history.
Christine Sinclair, Canada
Who could forget Sinclair nearly beating the U.S. single-handedly at the 2012 Olympics, notching a hat trick before the Americans claimed a dramatic victory in extra time? For more than a decade Sinclair has carried Canada, winning the nation’s Player of the Year for 11 straight years starting in 2004. The 31-yearold, with 153 international goals, gets the World Cup on her home soil for what she hopes will be the defining moment of a stellar career.
Dzsenifer Marozsan, Germany
FIFA Player of the Year Nadine Kessler is out with an injury. Midfielder Fatmire Alushi is pregnant and withdrew from the World Cup. If Germany wants to win a third World Cup in four tries, it will be on the shoulders of the 23-year-old Marozsan, the playmaker who led her country to the 2013 European title. The daughter of a former Hungarian international player, Marozsan has
been a pro since she was 14.
Asisat Oshoala, Nigeria
At only 20 years old, she’s already being heralded as the greatest African talent, the MVP of the U-20 World Cup last summer and a member of Liverpool in the Women’s Super League. Last month, she also won the BBC Player of the Year, beating out Marta and Germany’s Nadine Kessler. The World Cup will be the biggest stage of Oshoala’s young career.