First woman on FIFA’s global cover has already received Marta’s vote and inspires Indian girls

In 2018, when she was elected the best player in the world for the sixth time, Marta was also entitled to vote in the selection of FIFA’s The Best award, as captain of Brazil. For the Brazilian, that year, the Australian Sam Kerr deserved the same recognition that she had won.

At the age of 24, the attacker was a finalist for the award for the second time and accumulated a series of feats to obtain a better position than the ninth place conquered among the ten athletes who disputed the trophy.

At the time with 43 goals, she had become the all-time leading scorer in the US-based National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), widely considered the strongest league in women’s soccer — with 61 goals, she still holds that mark today. .

In 2018 alone, she hit the net 17 times in the competition, which earned her the Golden Boot for top scorer, in addition to being elected the most valuable athlete in the tournament that year.

The Australian’s success, including with her country’s national team, sparked interest in the athlete’s origins and shed light on the immigration history of her paternal grandparents and her father, who were born in India. Idolized in Australia and the US, she has also become an icon for Indian girls who love football.

“My Indian heritage is something I’m very proud of and I know my grandmother is very proud to be representing young Indian girls whenever I go there and play,” the forward recently told Forbes.

Now, she will also become a reference for girls around the world. Earlier this week, EA Sports announced Sam Kerr as the first player to grace the global cover of the Fifa game in the 2023 edition, alongside Frenchman Kylian Mbappé.

On Wednesday (20), the studio released the first official trailer for the game, which will be officially released on September 30. In addition to the new global star, the main novelty will be the addition of women’s club teams for the first time in franchise history. Teams from the Barclays Women’s Super League, from England, and Division 1 Arkema, from France, will be present.

“It’s an honor and a dream come true to be on the cover of FIFA 23“, said Sam. “It’s been amazing working with Kylian and the entire team at EA Sports and I can’t wait for all the fans to get their hands on a copy of the game,” added the Chelsea player.

Chosen to be the star of the game for the third year in a row, Mbappé valued Kerr’s choice. “I’m even more excited to share a cover honoring women’s football with a great player like Sam Kerr,” said the PSG Frenchman.

Before the Australian, players Alex Morgan, Christine Sinclair and Stephanie Catley also appeared on the cover of FIFA 2016, but only in versions distributed in specific countries, such as the USA and Canada.

It was also in that edition that EA introduced women’s teams to the game for the first time, with the addition of 12 teams, including the Brazilian with the presence of Marta.

Chosen for the newest version of the game, Sam is one of today’s top players. Signed by Chelsea in 2020, she has won the WSL three times, as well as two FA Cups and Continental Cups. She also has a runner-up in the Woman Champions League.

In the 2021-2022 season, she was the top scorer in the WSL with 21 goals, becoming the first player in history to win the top scorer award on three different continents: Oceania, North America and Europe.

The keen eye for goals is something remarkable in her career since her first steps. After debuting for the Australia national team at the age of 15, she scored her first goal for the team at 16 and hasn’t stopped since. With 59 goals in 110 matches, she is the top scorer in the team’s history.

In addition, she is the first Australian player, male or female, to score three goals in the same World Cup match, in 2019, in France.

In 2023, in addition to stamping the covers of FIFA, Sam Kerr will lead, at home, Australia in the ninth edition of the Women’s World Cup and continue dreaming of taking another golden boot.

The 2023 edition will be the last of the game with the name of the highest football entity, since EA and FIFA have not renewed the partnership agreement. Starting next season, the traditional football game will be called EA Sports FC.