Abstract
The 2011 Women's Football World Cup, hosted by Germany, was seen by the Brazilian team as an opportunity to win the gold medal consequently improving the situation for women's football in Brazil. The captain, Aline Pellegrino, told the international press that her team was looking for better conditions for female footballers in Brazil: "We want the right to play football with dignity and minimal conditions in our country. We don't need the millionaire wages of the men's football, but we need respect", she declared (UOL, 2011). Hence, the team's hope had been to win a major title in order to realise better conditions for female football in Brazil. Their expectations of a good result in the tournament were justified: the Brazilian team had won silver medals in all major competitions in the previous few years; they were runner-up at both the Athens and the Beijing Olympic Games, as well as at the 2007 Women's World Cup hosted by China. Marta, the star of the team, had also been elected five times by FIFA as the world's best female player. However, despite high expectations for the 2011 women's Football World Cup, the Brazilian women's football team lost to the United States in the quarter-finals. With that unexpected and premature defeat, the future of the players, and of female football in Brazil was, once again uncertain. The players knew that they would be returning to Brazil with no guarantees of their careers; the same lack of support and the same prejudices would remain.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Routledge Handbook of Sport, Gender and Sexuality |
| Editors | Jennifer Hargreaves, Eric Anderson |
| Place of Publication | U.S.A. |
| Publisher | Routledge |
| Pages | 121-128 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9780203121375 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780415522533 |
| Publication status | Published - 2014 |
