TICKETS
Lediane Marcolan prided herself on being a good student. When it came to her college exams, she successfully answered questions on biomechanics, body movement and physiology and passed physical education with flying colours.
The 34-year-old failed miserably on her latest test – despite the answer being herself. Tampa, as she is better known, couldn’t have imagined that, in a Seleção swarming with scoring sharks, she’d be their leading markswoman in 2025.
The Roma winger isn’t bothered which Brazilian ripples net most at the PhilSports Arena in Metropolitan Manila. All that matters to Tampa is that Brazil conquer the first FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup™.
Tampa: (Pauses) I don’t know. (Pauses) I really don’t know.
(Shocked look) You saw how surprised I was. That’s a statistic I wasn’t aware of. Obviously I’m very happy to be able to help the Seleção with goals. We know there are a lot of quality goalscorers here. So, to be among them, to be the top scorer this year, makes me very happy indeed.
(Laughs) It’s always better to score a beautiful goal. I’m pleased when a goal comes from a nice play – whether it’s a team or an individual one – and ends up being more beautiful. But I think a goal is a goal, regardless of how you score it. What matters is the ball hitting the back of the net, but obviously when it’s a beautiful goal, I’m even happier (laughs).
I think that in 2025, especially with the national-team competitions, I was able to have good games, good competitions. I think that’s also why I’ve scored more this year. I recently moved clubs. I knew it was going to be an important year. Not that I didn’t dedicate myself in other years, but the desire to live this dream is massive. In every game, every training session, every moment, I remember putting on my trainers as a kid and dreaming of a World Cup. A lot comes from wanting to live that dream and being well to live that dream. And when an athlete feels good, they perform much better on the court.
I watched it with Ana, Adrieli [Berte] and Gaby Vanelli, who are on my team and are from the Italian national team. Of course there’s a rivalry. I believe the fact that a lot of Brazilians [playing in Italy] creates that. I’m sure that Brazil and Italy will be a very tough game. Both of us have been wanting this game to happen. We were supposed to play a friendly at the end of last year, but it didn’t happen. The first Brazil-Italy will happen in the World Cup. It’s a feeling that’s kind of hard to explain. It’s better to just experience it. Obviously there’s banter. We wind each other up. When Ana made a mistake this season, I would wind her up and say, ‘This is how I want you to play in the World Cup, like this!’ (laughs) But it’s all good fun. I’m certain they’ll give it their all, we’ll give it our all, and the best-prepared team will win.
I think it will be a mixture of feelings. I really like being in Italy, playing in the Italian league. I like being in that environment, you know? But when game time comes, that’s it, I’m 100 per cent Brazilian. Of course I’ll be competing against club-mates who I share my life with on a daily basis. It’s going to be an exciting game for both sides. I think there’ll be nerves. There will be a feeling of, ‘I’m not going to let you win, you’re not going to let me win.’ I believe it will be a very beautiful game.
When we scheduled this chat, I was thinking about the questions you would ask me. I thought about this question. Renata is one of the most difficult players to defend against. With the ball at her feet, she’s on a different level. She’s quick and really skilful. If the ball arrives at her feet at the wrong time, she’ll dribble past you and go clean through. I believe we have to pay really close attention to her because individually she makes a huge difference.
I think it’s Debora [Vanin]. I think Debora is really complete player. She’s a game-changer. She makes the difference for her club and the national team in equal measure. Emilly really deserved to win [the Best Women’s Player] last year. I joked with her that if she didn’t win it, it was time to stop playing because she’s had some amazing years and hadn’t won. But right now, I’d still say Debora.
I think a lot do. If we look at the favourites, Brazil, Spain, Portugal. I think we are the three favourites. I think we are the main teams. Then Italy, Argentina, Colombia, Japan could enter the battle. They have grown a lot. It’s the first World Cup for everyone, so I think everyone will be like, ‘Man, I want to make history. I want to give more than I do on a day-to-day basis. I want to go down in history as [being part of] the first national team to win the World Cup.’ I think this will play a big part.
I think there’ll be tears. There’ll be a lot of tears because, even at the Copa America, when they carried on singing the national anthem a cappella, they were difficult to hold back. I’ll repeat this: playing in a World Cup has been a dream of mine since I started playing futsal. I would watch game on the TV, hear people singing the national anthem and get goosebumps, get emotional. So to be experiencing this, knowing I’ll be out there in this shirt, is really emotional. I’ve no doubt that the tears will flow, there’ll be goosebumps, that crazy feeling, those butterflies in the stomach that every player feels at this moment.
I think we have great credentials. I think you only win by playing, putting into practice everything you’ve trained. We have to combine everyone’s individual skills with the collective, which is what we work on every day. God willing, we’ll be in the final on December the 7th.
