Pete Kiehart for The New York Times
PARIS — It was late in the summer of 2016, the Rio Olympics were over and Brazilian midfielder Formiga was ready to retire. This made sense, given that she was 38 years old, ancient by soccer standards, and that she had played in (among other things) six Women’s World Cups and six Olympic Games.
“I wanted to leave space for some new players,” Formiga said this spring in an interview at the training ground of Paris St.-Germain, the club she joined last year and for which she is the captain.