[14] São Paulo FC closed their women's section in 2000 and Formiga did not play in the controversial 2001 Campeonato Paulista de Futebol Feminino.
[17] In 2002 Formiga spent a brief period with Santos, joining alongside Valeria and playing under future national team coach Kleiton Lima.
[25] At the inaugural 2007 edition of the Copa do Brasil de Futebol Feminino, Formiga helped Saad (playing under the banner of Mato Grosso do Sul) beat Botucatu on penalties after a 1–1 draw in the final at Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha in Brasília.
[32] She joined a Brazilian enclave at the club, alongside teammates Érika and Adriane,[33] as well as assistant coach Sissi (who made a playing comeback in the second half of the season).
She was a late selection for the 2009 WPS All-Star Game as a replacement for five English and French players who were absent at UEFA Women's Euro 2009, but was herself ruled out with a knee sprain.
[42] São José remained competitive on all fronts in 2013, and in May Formiga scored in the 5–1 aggregate final win over Vitória das Tabocas to secure the 2013 Copa do Brasil de Futebol Feminino.
[43] She also equalised in São José's drawn Campeonato Paulista final with Ferroviária, but the competition rules saw their opponents win the title due to a better record in the first phase.
[45] The following month São José were beaten by Centro Olímpico in the inaugural Campeonato Brasileiro de Futebol Feminino final, after which Formiga reflected: "We're not going to win everything".
[46] Formiga played as São José narrowly failed to win a third consecutive Copa do Brasil de Futebol Feminino in June 2014, losing the 2014 final on penalties to Ferroviária.
[49] In December Formiga featured for São José at the 2014 International Women's Club Championship, which they won by beating English wild card entrant Arsenal Ladies 2–0 in the final at Nishigaoka Soccer Stadium, Tokyo.
[60] Having extended her contract by another year in May 2019,[61] Formiga became the UEFA Women's Champions League's oldest ever goal scorer in Paris Saint-Germain's 7–0 Round of 32 win at Braga.
[63] In April 2021 Formiga took great satisfaction from contributing to Paris Saint-Germain's hard-fought 2020–21 UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-final win over dominant Lyon.
[64] Her 100th and final Paris Saint-Germain appearance came in June 2021; as a second-half substitute in a 3–0 win over Dijon which secured the club's first 2020–21 Division 1 Féminine title and denied Lyon a 15th consecutive championship.
Formiga and Pretinha were the only two Brazilian players who participated in the first four Olympic Games tournaments of women's football, winning the silver medal in both 2004 and 2008 – both finals lost to the United States.
[78] Formiga also won the gold medal in three editions of the Pan American Games, 2003, 2007 and 2015,[71] and winning the silver in 2011 when Brazil was beaten by Canada.
[79] Honestly, I would prefer to be at home right now, playing for a club, watching a new and exciting young Seleção, had any sort of renovation process actually taken place.
[84] On 26 November 2021, Formiga played her last match for Brazil in their 6–1 win over India at the 2021 International Women's Football Tournament of Manaus,[85][86] officially retiring from the national team.
[4][5][6] She has cited Dunga, captain of the male Brazil national team that won the 1994 FIFA World Cup as the biggest influence on her playing style.
[88] The couple first met in 1996, but drifted apart due to the limited progress of LGBT rights in Brazil making out lesbian relationships difficult to maintain at that time.
[89] A strong advocate of women's football in Brazil, Formiga is an activist athlete who has fought prejudice: "I had to work hard to conquer my space and prove who I was.