Ary Borges, Brazil’s hat-trick hero in its 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup opener, recently penned a magnificent essay for the Players Tribune ahead of her first World Cup experience.
The Racing Louisville star tells her origin story growing up in São Luís and São Paulo, paying great tribute to Brazil legend Marta as well as her grandmother, parents, uncle and other family members and friends who helped her along the way. She also called her time so far in the U.S. and with Racing “an incredible experience.”
“Suddenly, the girl who kicked the ball at low tide in São Luís even went to play soccer in the United States league, an incredible experience,” Borges wrote in a letter published this past Friday before her World Cup debut, “and now she’s here, counting the hours until she plays in a World Cup that people say will be the best ever.”
The full story of Borges’s upbringing gives great context to the emotion she showed after her first goal in Brazil’s 4-0 win over Panama and again after the match.
You can read the full story here. (Note: You’ll have to use your web browser’s translation to change it from Portuguese).
