Brazil great Marta misses out on Olympic gold again as the US stops her once more

PARIS (AP) — Marta fought back tears as she exited the Olympic stage one last time.

After 185 appearances for Brazil, including six World Cups and six Olympics, one of the sport's greats had one more shot at a major international title on Saturday.

Olympic gold eluded her, again.

At the age of 38, Marta said ahead of the Paris Games that it would be her last major tournament with the national team. There was to be no perfect ending for a player who has been a flag-bearer for women's soccer — a 1-0 loss to the United States in the Olympic final consigning her to silver once again.

It's an all-too familiar experience for the six-time world player of the year. The U.S. has proved a frequent roadblock to her international ambitions.

Add Paris 2024 to Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008. On all three occasions Marta and Brazil were beaten to gold by the Americans.

And so three silvers are the pinnacle of her achievements in international soccer, along with a runner-up medal at the 2007 World Cup. For all her brilliance — scoring a record 119 goals for her country — she never managed to deliver a major international title.

But she did go mighty close in a tumultuous last campaign.

There were tears of anguish when she thought her Olympics had ended with a red card against Spain in the group phase. Tears of joy when watching on from the stands as Brazil eliminated host nation France in the quarterfinals and frustration again when an appeal to have her suspension reduced was overruled and she missed the semifinals as well.

There were emotional scenes again as she embraced Brazil coach Arthur Elias in the middle of the field at the end of Saturday's final, and she was applauded as she exited the stage.

Marta says it is time to hand over to the next generation and Brazilian soccer looks like it is in a healthy place after its run in France.

Her teammates did her proud in her absence to give her one last shot at gold and it was perhaps indicative of her waning impact that she was left out of the starting lineup against the U.S.

Gabi Portilho, Adriana and Ludmila have underlined Brazil's attacking depth.

And that trio helped Brazil dominate the chances in the first half — but couldn't replicate the cutting edge that had seen them blow away world champion Spain in the semifinals.

In the 61st it was Marta time. With Brazil trailing to Mallory Swanson’s goal minutes earlier, Elias sent for a national soccer icon.

Cheers echoed around Parc des Princes, and there were gasps of anticipation after her first touch and again when she stood over a free kick late on in the match.

It was Adriana, however, who went closest to an equalizer, when her header was saved by U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher in stoppage time.

As the fulltime whistle blew, Marta was quick to console teammate Angelina around the halfway line before sharing embraces with members of coaching staff.

She congratulated the U.S. players and joined her teammates in showing appreciation to the fans.

An Olympic journey that had started when she was just 18 in Athens, ended with another final, another medal. Just not the one she was so desperate to get her hands on.

James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Brazil's Marta greets Brazil's Rafaelle after the women's soccer gold medal match between Brazil and the United States at the Parc des Princes during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Brazil's Marta, left, greets Tierna Davidson of the United States the women's soccer gold medal match between Brazil and the United States at the Parc des Princes during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Brazil's Marta takes her seat on the bench before the women's soccer gold medal match between Brazil and the United States at the Parc des Princes during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Mallory Swanson of the United States, right, and Brazil's Ana Vitoria race for a loose ball during the women's soccer gold medal match between Brazil and the United States at the Parc des Princes during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Mallory Swanson, of the United States, up, celebrates with Lindsey Horan, of the United States, after scoring her side's first goal during the women's soccer gold medal match between Brazil and the United States at the Parc des Princes during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Lindsey Horan, of the United States, left, and Tierna Davidson, of the United States, right, challenges for the ball Brazil's Marta, center, during the women's soccer gold medal match between Brazil and the United States at the Parc des Princes during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Brazil's Marta enters the pitch after a substitution during the women's soccer gold medal match between Brazil and the United States at the Parc des Princes during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Brazil's Marta reacts during the women's soccer gold medal match between Brazil and the United States at the Parc des Princes during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Brazil's Marta, center, runs with the ball during the women's soccer gold medal match between Brazil and the United States at the Parc des Princes during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Brazil's Marta, right, is embraced by Brazil's head coach Elias Arthur the women's soccer gold medal match between Brazil and the United States at the Parc des Princes during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Brazil's head coach Elias Arthur, right, gestures towards Brazil's Marta, left, at the end of the women's soccer gold medal match between Brazil and the United States at the Parc des Princes during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Brazil's Marta waves before the women's soccer gold medal match between Brazil and the United States at the Parc des Princes during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Brazil's Marta, right, consoles a teammate during the medal ceremony after the women's soccer gold medal match between Brazil and the United States at the Parc des Princes during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivia's hugely popular former leftist president, Evo Morales, on Monday called on supporters to take to the streets in protest against his bitter political rival, current President Luis Arce, who hours earlier accused Morales on national TV of trying to overthrow him.

Morales’ appeal to Bolivia’s farmers, miners and peasants followed President Arce's unprecedented televised speech late Sunday lambasting his former mentor. Accusing Morales of trying to sabotage his administration and undermine democracy, Arce escalated a high-stakes power struggle that has pushed Bolivia to the brink.

“Enough, Evo!” Arce exclaimed. “Until now, I have tolerated your attacks and slander in silence. But putting the lives of the people at risk is something I cannot tolerate.”

Arce, who took office in 2020 and has struggled to govern with his ruling party riven by disagreements, alleged that Morales’ attempts to mobilize popular support and run in Bolivia’s presidential election next year was “putting democracy at risk."

"You are threatening the entire country," Arce said, alleging Morales sought to return to power by “means fair or foul."

His dramatic speech dredged up the chaos and bloodshed of 2019, when Morales ran for an unconstitutional third term and won. After accusations of fraud sparked mass protests, Morales resigned under pressure from the army, in what his supporters call a coup, and went into exile. At least 36 people were killed in the ensuing crackdown by security forces.

Morales, who served as Bolivia’s first Indigenous president, has vowed to unleash unrest if he is stopped from running in the elections scheduled for August 2025.

Ever since the constitutional court last year barred the leftist icon from running for president, the coca cultivators, Indigenous groups and miners — whom Morales represented during his presidency from 2006 to 2019 — have repeatedly come to his defense with street protests, marches and road blockades.

Morales encouraged the international community to follow his so-called “March to Save Bolivia" on Tuesday from the southeast village of Caracollo to Bolivia's administrative capital of La Paz. He described the march — 85 kilometers (53 miles) by foot along a highway — as a natural expression of protest against the failure of Arce’s government to fix the worsening economic crisis.

Firing back at Arce, he insisted Monday he had no selfish ulterior motives.

“The march is the response of a people fed up with their unthinking government, which has maintained absolute silence in the face of the crisis, corruption and the destruction of stability,” Morales wrote on social media platform X. “President Arce is not only desperate, but also confused.”

Over the past year, the Arce-Morales rift has increasingly polarized the country, tainting Bolivia’s politics and creating a sense of turmoil that soldiers sought to seize upon in June in an alleged coup attempt.

On Monday, peasants and workers flocked to the main road leading to Bolivia’s tourist hotspot of Lake Titicaca, cutting off traffic under the watchful gaze of riot police and calling on Arce to resign.

“It’s an incompetent government that we have, and it won’t solve the economic crisis,” said Pablo Merma, a peasant leader of the so-called Red Ponchos, radical Indigenous activists from the high plains who rallied Monday against the president. “We are not afraid of you, Arce.”

Although Arce was Morales’ former economy minister and his candidate in Bolivia’s 2020 elections, the erstwhile allies began vying for power after Morales’ 2021 political comeback.

Bolivia’s political stagnation and profound economic crisis — with fuel scarce and and the central bank dangerously short on foreign currency reserves — has caused some Bolivians once outraged over Morales’ strongman tendencies to grow nostalgic for the ex-leader’s transformation of Bolivia’s economy and remarkable reduction of poverty.

Rocks block a highway towards Lake Titicaca in Vilaque on the outskirts of El Alto, Bolivia, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. The rocks were placed by people protesting for the resignation of Bolivian President Luis Arce for his management of the economy. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

Rocks block a highway towards Lake Titicaca in Vilaque on the outskirts of El Alto, Bolivia, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. The roadblock was placed by protesters demanding the resignation of Bolivian President Luis Arce for his management of the economy. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

Police keep protesters from blocking more lanes as they protest for the resignation of Bolivian President Luis Arce for his management of the economy in Corapata, on the outskirts of El Alto, Bolivia, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

Police patrol at a roadblock in Vilaque on the outskirts of El Alto, Bolivia, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. The roadblock was placed by protesters demanding the resignation of Bolivian President Luis Arce for his management of the economy. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)