Marta expected to miss Brazil's opening Women's World Cup game

Brazil forward Marta is expected to miss her side's opening Women's World Cup match against Jamaica because of a thigh complaint.

The 33-year-old picked up the injury in training on May 25 and was considered a major doubt for Sunday's Group C clash in Grenoble.

It has now been confirmed by Brazil boss Vadao that, despite making a good recovery over the past week, Marta is likely to play no part against Jamaica - though she may still be named among the substitutes.

"Marta's condition has improved a lot, quicker than we originally expected," he said in a news conference on Saturday. "It was a problematic injury. But the truth is that she can't play tomorrow.

"She can be on the bench if she prefers to join her team-mates, but she's not in the proper condition to play yet."

Marta won the FIFA Women's World Player of the Year award five times in a row from 2006 to 2010 and claimed The Best FIFA Women's Player prize in 2018.

She is the Women's World Cup's all-time record goalscorer with 15 goals across four previous tournaments.

Brazil face Australia and Italy in their other two group matches on June 13 and 18 respectively.

15 - Marta has scored 15 goals at the #FIFAWWC for Brazil; the most of any player for any nation in the tournament. Lethal. pic.twitter.com/v4R6XKd501

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 7, 2019