Pioneers of Brazilian women's football will be honored in the September 7th Parade in Brasília

The pioneering athletes of Brazilian women's football will be honored during the September 7th Parade, this Monday, in Brasília. A group of players who played for the Brazilian national team between the 1980s and 1990s will parade along the Esplanada dos Ministérios, in an open car.

The tribute celebrates the trajectory of the sport in Brazil, the country that will host the Women's Football World Cup in June and July 2027.

Eleven former players were invited to participate in the festivities. Three-time world champion and coach of the Brazilian Women's Fut7 Team since 2019, Dilma Mendes from Bahia will represent the generation of women who faced prejudice and the lack of support prior to the regulation of the practice – which only stopped being legally prohibited for women in 1979. Dilma was elected the best coach in the world of fut7 (also known as society) three times.

The first post-professionalization generation will be represented by five former athletes who participated in the Experimental Women's Football World Cup in 1988 in China. Brazil finished in third place. They are:

Lucilene de Souza Marinho, the Onion;

Marisa Pires Nogueira;

Mariléia dos Santos, Michael Jackson;

Iracema Ferreira (Rata);

Suzy Bittencourt de Oliveira.

The second group is made up of athletes whose presence on the field continued into the 1990s:

Miriam Soares;

Lunalva Torres de Almeida, Nalvinha;

Elissandra Regina Cavalcanti (Nenê);

Yara Silva;

Miraildes Maciel Mota, known as Formiga, athlete who competed in seven editions of the FIFA Cup, between 1995 and 2019.

“As captain of the first Brazilian women's team, in 1988, I feel honored to be here, with other pioneers”, said Marisa, who in addition to winning the bronze medal with the 1988 team, participated in the 1991 Women's World Cup.

For her, the tribute will be marked in history.

"It's always great to get together. Even more so at a moment as significant as this. We will represent not only our generations and the legacy we leave, but women's football as a whole."

Meeting

According to the Ministry of Sports, the thematic axis of the September 7th Parade dedicated to women's football and the 2027 World Cup will provide a meeting of generations. Alongside the 11 pioneers, there will be 40 girls from a social project in the Federal District who are starting out in the sport.

“On the eve of the FIFA Women's World Cup Brazil, these generations meet to show that each new step in the sport was built on the path opened by those who came before”, informed the ministry, in a note, adding that, while the pioneers of the 1988, 1991 and 1995 teams represent those who paved the way, the youngest symbolize the future of the sport.

The Women's World Cup takes place from June 24 to July 25, 2027. There will be 64 games, played in eight capitals. The city that will host the most matches will be São Paulo, with ten games. Next comes Rio de Janeiro and Fortaleza (nine), Belo Horizonte (eight), Brasília, Salvador, Porto Alegre and Recife (seven).

The announcement of Brazil's choice as host took place in May 2024, at a FIFA congress in Bangkok, Thailand. Brazil obtained 119 votes and won the dispute with the alliance formed by Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium, which obtained 78 votes.

Independence

The parade on the Esplanada dos Ministérios will also feature athletes from other sports. On the same route, there will be prominent names from Brazilian high performance, including Olympic and Paralympic competitors, who join the pioneers and new generations to celebrate the national sport.

The ceremony is scheduled to start at 9 am, with the stands opening at 6:30 am and closing at 11 am. The opening will be attended by students from public schools, who will represent the 27 units of the federation. In addition to the axis dedicated to women's football, the event will be structured around two other thematic axes: national sovereignty and combating violence against women.