Brazil stars Marta, Daniela and Cristiane were selected in the first round of the Women's Professional Soccer international draft on Wednesday.Marta, considered the best player in the world, was taken by Los Angeles, while Daniela went to St. Louis and Cristiane was chosen by Chicago.
Another Brazilian, Formiga, was chosen by the Bay Area franchise, while England's Kelly Smith went to Boston. Japan's Homare Sawa was selected by Washington, with Australia's Sarah Walsh going to the New York/New Jersey team in the first of four rounds.
In all, 10 Brazilian players were chosen. Also selected were players from Sweden, Canada, France, China and Iceland.
"Clearly there is a keen interest in Brazilian players, who bring a creative and dynamic rhythm of play," said WPS commissioner Tonya Antonucci. "And more broadly, from Asia to Australia, Europe to the Americas, it's exciting to see our teams looking to sign players from across the world to play in WPS in 2009."
The seven WPS teams begin play in April.
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International Draft
1. Bay Area_Formiga, Brazil
2. Boston_Kelly Smith, England
3. Los Angeles_Marta, Brazil
4. St. Louis_Daniela, Brazil
5. Chicago_Cristiane, Brazil
6. Washington_Homare Sawa, Japan
7. New Jersey/New York_Sarah Walsh, Australia
8. Bay Area_Christine Sinclair, Canada
9. Boston_Fabiana, Brazil
10. Los Angeles_Aya Miyama, Japan
11. Washington_Sonia Bompastor, France
12. Chicago_Heather Garriock, Australia
13. St. Louis_Renata Costa, Brazil
14. New Jersey/New York_Rosana, Brazil
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