One of Brazil’s biggest soccer stars is Marta, voted best female player in the world for the past two years. Pelé nicknamed her “Pelé in Skirts.” She’s played all over the world. And she’s only twenty two years old. She will play for Brazil at the Beijing Olympics, and already kicked off the games with a first round match against Germany on Wednesday.

Born Marta Vieira da Silva in Dois Riachos, Alagoas, she used to play soccer with her brothers, and left home at age sixteen for Rio de Janeiro. There, she went to play for the women’s Vasco team, and two years later became an international player. She’s played in Sweden ever since.

She helped the Brazilian national team win a silver medal during the Olympics in Athens, and also played with the team when it won a gold in the Pan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2007. She also helped Brazil make the women’s World Cup for the first time last year.

Marta is the only female player ever to leave her footprints in the Walk of Fame at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, the soccer equivalent of Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.

In a country where the national sport is dominated by men, Marta has helped pave the way for female players and also helped garner interest in women’s soccer.