Margarete Maria Pioresan (born 1 January 1956), commonly known as Meg, is a former Brazilian footballer who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for the Brazil women's national football team. She represented Brazil at the

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

and

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

and played in the

1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

at the age of 40. Earlier in her sporting career Meg had played for the

Brazil women's national handball team The Brazil women's national handball team is the national team of Brazil. It is governed by the Confederação Brasileira de Handebol and takes part in international handball competitions. History In December 2013, ...

, winning a bronze medal at the

1987 Pan American Games The 1987 Pan American Games, officially known as the X Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event held in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, on August 7–23, 1987. Over 4,300 athletes from 38 countries in the Americas c ...

Career

Meg began playing

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

after enrolling at

Universidade Estadual de Maringá The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

in 1975 and moved to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

in 1979 to play handball as a goalkeeper. She was called into the

in 1983. While in Rio de Janeiro, Meg also took up football and played in goal for EC Radar. After two years playing

beach soccer Beach soccer, also known as beach football, sand football or beasal, is a variant of association football played on a beach or some form of sand. Whilst football has been played informally on beaches, the introduction of ''beach soccer'' was an a ...

in 1980 and 1981, Radar played on grass from 1982 onwards. ''

Placar ''Placar'' ( en, Score) is a monthly Brazilian sports magazine. Its first edition was issued by Editora Abril. on March 20, 1970, and since then it has become the most successful sports publication in Brazil, even though it focuses fully on foot ...

'' magazine reported in 1985 that Meg was earning a salary of 150,000 Cr from Radar. That year she quit football in order to focus on her handball commitments, including playing at the

where Brazil won bronze medals. Still concentrating on handball, Meg rejected a call–up from the

Brazilian Football Confederation The Brazilian Football Confederation ( pt, Confederação Brasileira de Futebol; CBF) is the governing body of football in Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country ...

(CBF) to play for Brazil at the

1988 FIFA Women's Invitation Tournament The 1988 FIFA Women's Invitation Tournament, or International Women's Football Tournament, was organised by FIFA in China from 1 to 12 June 1988. The competition was a test to study if a global women's World Cup was feasible following the experie ...

. After playing in a tournament in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

in 1989 Meg concluded her handball career. When she was invited to the

1991 FIFA Women's World Cup The 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup was the inaugural FIFA Women's World Cup, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It took place in Guangdong, China from 16 to 30 November 1991. FIFA, football's international gove ...

, she returned to football—after six years out of the game and at the age of 35—citing her dream of reaching the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

. Meg maintained her physical condition by training hard and playing club football for the women's section of

CR Vasco da Gama Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama (), commonly referred as Vasco da Gama or simply Vasco, is a professional sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Originally a rowing club, Vasco is mostly known for its football team, who it currently compet ...

. In the

1995 FIFA Women's World Cup The 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup, the second edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, was held in Sweden and won by Norway women's national football team, Norway, who became the first European nation to win the Women's World Cup. The tournament fea ...

Meg played in Brazil's shock win over hosts

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

in the opening game. Although defeats to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

consigned Brazil to elimination in last place in the group, Meg still achieved her dream of Olympic qualification. World Cup quarter finalists

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

were ineligible and Brazil had the best record of the teams eliminated in the group stage. Meg had played with a broken finger sustained while saving a penalty from Homare Sawa during the 2–1 defeat to Japan. Brazil exceeded expectations at the 1996 Olympic Football Tournament, finishing in fourth place. Meg intended to retire after the Olympics but Vasco persuaded her to play on until 2000, using veteran male player

Mauro Galvão Mauro Geraldo Galvão (born 19 December 1961) is a Brazilian retired footballer who played as a sweeper, having won the title of Brazilian Champion four times, playing for Internacional (1979), Grêmio Portoalegrense (1996) and Vasco da ...

as an example.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pioresan, Margarete 1956 births Living people People from Toledo, Paraná Women's association football goalkeepers Olympic footballers of Brazil Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup players 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup players Brazilian female handball players Brazilian people of Italian descent Brazil women's international footballers Brazilian women's footballers EC Radar players Pan American Games bronze medalists for Brazil Pan American Games medalists in handball Handball players at the 1987 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games Sportspeople from Paraná (state)