Marcelo dos Santos Cipriano (born 11 October 1969), known simply as Marcelo, is a Portuguese former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a striker. He played professionally in Portugal (most notably one season for Benfica), England, where he appeared for three First Division (second-tier) clubs, and Spain.

Club career

Académica / Benfica

Born in Niterói,

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 ...

to Portuguese parents, Marcelo returned to their homeland still in his teens, entering the youth system of

Associação Académica de Coimbra The Associação Académica de Coimbra (AAC) is the students' union of the University of Coimbra (UC). Founded in Coimbra on November 3, 1887, it is the oldest students' union in Portugal. It is also the biggest Portuguese students' union belongi ...

, which loaned him to fourth division team

Sertanense F.C. Sertanense Futebol Clube (), formerly Sertanense Foot-ball Club, is a Portuguese football club based in Sertã. Founded in 1934, it currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, holding home games at ''Campo de Jogos Dr. Marques dos Santos''. ...

in the summer of 1989. After one season apiece with Académica and C.D. Feirense in the second level, Marcelo made his Primeira Liga debut with Gil Vicente FC, scoring three goals for the Barcelos-based club. His most successful period in his adopted nation would be lived at lowly F.C. Tirsense, which he helped achieve top flight promotion in 1994, subsequently netting 17 times in 1994–95 as the northerners achieved a best-ever eight-place in the competition. Marcelo's exploits earned him a transfer to

S.L. Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904 as ''Sport Lisboa'', Be ...

, finishing his sole season as team topscorer in the league behind

João Vieira Pinto João is the Portuguese equivalent of the given name John. The diminutive is Joãozinho and the feminine is Joana. It is widespread in Portuguese-speaking countries. Notable people with the name are enumerated in the sections below. Kings * ...

, but his side did not win any silverware. He then spent one year in the Spanish second tier with

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Founded on 1 July 1920 as Sport Friends Club, it ...

, going scoreless in nearly 25 league appearances.

England / Later years

In the following five years, Marcelo played in England, starting in 1997 with

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

, which signed the player for a fee of £400,000. In the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

tournament during his first year, he helped take the team to the semi-finals, after scoring against

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

Highfield Road Highfield Road was a football stadium in the city of Coventry, England. It was the home ground for Coventry City F.C. for 106 years. History It was built in 1899 in the Hillfields district, close to the city centre, and staged its final game ...

to set up the (eventually victorious) replay.

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

acquired Marcelo's services in 1999 for a fee of £500,000. He played on the losing side in the

2001 Football League Cup Final The 2001 Football League Cup Final was a football match played between Birmingham City and Liverpool on 25 February 2001 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. It was the final match of the 2000–01 Football League Cup, the 41st season of the Foot ...

, coming on as a second-half substitute and netting in the

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

; he ended his career in the country at

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

, for whom he played nine times and scored once, against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

. At nearly 33, Marcelo returned to Portugal and first professional club Académica, spending a further two seasons in the top division after which he retired from the game.

Honours

Benfica *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 sea ...

: 1995–96 Tirsense * Segunda Liga: 1993–94 Birmingham City * Football League Cup runner-up: 2000–01

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marcelo 1969 births Living people Sportspeople from Niterói Brazilian people of Portuguese descent Portuguese footballers Association football forwards Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players Associação Académica de Coimbra – O.A.F. players Sertanense F.C. players C.D. Feirense players Gil Vicente F.C. players F.C. Tirsense players S.L. Benfica footballers Segunda División players Deportivo Alavés players English Football League players Sheffield United F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Portuguese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in England Brazilian expatriates in Portugal Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in England