TOKYO (Reuters) – Brazil’s Marta became the first woman footballer to score in five consecutive Olympic Games when she netted twice in Wednesday’s 5-0 thrashing of China at the Miyagi Stadium in Rifu.
Marta, widely regarded as the greatest women’s footballer of all time with a record five World Player of the Year awards, scored her first Olympic goal in Athens in 2004 and, following Wednesday’s brace, now has 12 Games strikes.
The 35-year-old opened the scoring in the Group F clash in the ninth minute when she arrived late in the box and pounced on a rebound. Debinha made it 2-0 in the 22nd minute.
Marta added her second with a low drive from a tight angle in the 74th minute before forward Andressa converted an 82nd minute penalty to leave China reeling.
Beatriz completed the rout in the 89th minute after latching on to a low cross to beat the goalkeeper with a first-time effort.
Their 43-year-old team-mate Formiga also wrote her name into the record books as the first women’s football player to take part in seven Olympic Games.
In the earlier kickoff in Group E, Britain beat Chile 2-0 at the Sapporo Dome with Manchester City forward Ellen White scoring twice, including the first goal at the Tokyo Games.
Britain took the lead in the first half through a flowing move when Lucy Bronze delivered a cross to the far post and Lauren Hemp headed it back in front of goal for White to prod home from close range.
Britain dominated proceedings with the lion’s share of possession but found it difficult to break through Chile’s dogged defence.
However, White doubled the lead in the 73rd minute after she combined with Bronze to score from a cross with a scissor-kick.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; editing by John Stonestreet)
