From humble beginnings to European glory, will Geyse's rise continue at World Cup?

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From humble beginnings to European glory, will Geyse's rise continue at World Cup?

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Geyse, right, in action in Brazil's final warmup match ahead of the World Cup
Geyse, right, in action in Brazil's final warmup match ahead of the World CupAFP
After scoring 20 goals in 27 games in the 2021/22 season, Barcelona wasted no time in signing Brazilian Geyse Ferreira (25) and one year later both are champions of Europe. Now her attention turns to the Women's World Cup where she'll be hoping to lead Brazil to their maiden World Cup triumph.

Geyse may not be the first name on fans and pundits' lips heading into the Women's World Cup but that might partly be down to her rapid rise to prominence.

The striker was still playing in her home country until 2017 and only really started making waves in Europe during the 2018/19 season, where she scored an eye-catching 49 goals in 30 games for Benfica in Ligb BPI. 

She got off to such a fast start in fact that she scored 16 goals in her first four games for the Portuguese side.

She would then rejoin Madrid CFF in 2020 where her prolific form in front of goal continued, capturing the attention of Europe's elite before joining Barcelona in June 2022.

Humble beginnings

For Geyse though, the road to the top has been far from straightforward.

She was born in the town of Maragogi (the same hometown as Brazilian legend Marta), a beautiful place which is never far from the sky-blue sea. 

It was on those sandy beaches where Geyse first learnt how to play the beautiful game and her Futsal flair comes through on the pitch - she is not afraid to express herself. 

Speaking to UEFA ahead of the Finalissima on April 6th, Geyse said: "I started playing football with friends on the beach, then an opportunity came up through my PE teacher to go and play in a team."

Although she accepted this offer, she admitted it was a challenging start to her career: "It was a bit tough in the past because I had to get up early and go to the capital to play football, but nowadays I think women's football is more valued than in the past.

"Every step that we take in women's football gives us joy that we're able to show we're capable of doing well."

And since that interview, it's fair to say things have been going very well for the emerging Brazilian star as she helped Barcelona to their fifth Champions League triumph and 27th La Liga title at the end of the 2022/23 season. 

How Geyse fit's into Brazil's 4-4-2 formation

Like many Brazilians before her, Geyse possesses excellent ball control, skill and flair to go with her calmness and natural goalscoring ability. 

She is expected to partner Gabi Nunes (26) or Bia Zaneratto (29) in Brazil's traditional but effective 4-4-2 formation with legendary Marta an option as a super sub late on. 

Nunes and Geyse have taken similar career paths as they both played for Corinthians before joining Madrid CFF where Nunes currently resides.  

Both strikers are a threat in the air which gives manager Pia Sundhage the option of playing more direct and utilising the width. 

However, Sundhage's side prefers to play a more fluid style of football with a frontline full of mobile attacking players.

Geyse is at the heart of that threat and if things click in place, she could well end the tournament much more well-known than she is currently. 

Brazil and Geyse will take confidence from their impressive Copa America performance which saw them defeat Columbia 1-0 in the final. 

Therefore there is hope with a good balance between young and experienced players and Champions League winner Geyse leading the line, Brazil can go far this summer.  

And whilst Marta is the rightful Queen of Brazilian football, If Geyse can light up this World Cup, then she could become the heir to the throne. 

Follow Brazil's opener with Flashscore.

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