Marta: Conquering Europe

11-11-2008

Marta picks out Arsenal, Lyon and Frankfurt as the main challengers to Umea’s European ambitions

We managed to excel in the UEFA Women's Cup group stage. I scored five goals myself, and all in all it was a very positive effort.

Now our objective is to fight for a place in the final and then for the title.

We know that the teams that lie in our path are to be tough opponents. Having said that, I don't see our Arsenal match as an advance final -- it's just a quarterfinal match.

There are other high level teams, such as Lyon. They beat Arsenal 4-0. They are very competitive at the moment, with Swedish Lotta Schelin and Brazilian Simone Jatobá as the star performers in what is a very strong squad overall.

I usually don't like to say who I’d prefer to be playing opponents, and it's a bit early to talk about the final, also then there is the fact that the semi-finals won't be played until next year, and I haven’t yet determined whether or not I will be staying or not.

In last year's final against Frankfurt we failed to win the first leg at home. In the return leg, they played for a draw. We put them under a lot of pressure, but unfortunately our finishing let us down.

Having said that, we were unlucky too, as we hit the post in the last minute, and there was nobody at hand to convert the rebound.