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Marta’s Perfect Free Kick Against Argentina Was Medicinal For Pelé

The all-time leader in goals scored at a World Cup is not Pelé nor Ronaldo — it’s another Brazilian, the timeless Marta. The brilliant No. 10 added a 113th career international goal to her tally on Monday, a stunning free kick that stirred Pelé whilst the elder Brazilian watched from a hospital. 

Marta, now 35, has been scoring for Brazil since 2003 and shows no signs of slowing down. She helped Brazil cruise past rival Argentina by 3-1 and 4-1 score lines during this international break. Monday’s victory was a 4-1 blowout, with Marta netting the second eight minutes before halftime. 

Her free kick was as spectacular as it was perfect, blasting the ball off the underside of the crossbar in the far upper-90 for an unstoppable shot. 

Marta Free Kick vs Argentina

It doesn’t get any better than that, except it did. Watching at a hospital in Brazil was Pelé, arguably the greatest male footballer of all time. 

Pelé has been hospitalized since Aug. 30 and had surgery to remove a tumor in his colon. On Monday, he was watching the Argentina-Brazil match, as documented by his daughter Kely Nascimento, who referred to Marta as the Queen.

“Watching the Queen make Queen stuff,” the translated post reads. “Brazil v Argentina. Football = medicine.”

This isn’t the first time Pelé has been fond of Marta and her Brazilian teammates. During this summer’s Olympics, he shared a touching message to her on Instagram, praising her after she scored twice in a win over China. 

Nascimento’s post Monday came shortly after Pelé updated his fans on his health. The 80-year-old posted his thanks to the staff at Albert Einstein Hospital for his continued improvement. 

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Here are the full-match highlights from Brazil’s win on Monday.

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