Marcelo dos Santos Ferreira (born 27 July 1989), known simply as Marcelo, is a Brazilian professional

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 plays for Emirati club Dibba Al Fujairah Club as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Club career

Marcelo was born in São Carlos,

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

. After failing to impose himself at

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 ...

, he joined amateurs

Rio Preto Esporte Clube Rio Preto Esporte Clube, commonly referred to as Rio Preto, is a Brazilian professional association football club based in São José do Rio Preto, São Paulo. The team competes in the Campeonato Paulista Série A3, the third tier of the São Pa ...

. In 2010, Marcelo moved to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, signing with G.D. Ribeirão of the third division. For the 2011–12 season he went straight to the Primeira Liga with

Rio Ave FC Rio Ave Futebol Clube, commonly known as Rio Ave (), is a Portuguese professional football club based in Vila do Conde Vila do Conde (, ; "the Count's Town") is a municipality in the Norte Region of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 79,5 ...

, being immediately loaned to Leixões SC. Marcelo made his debut in the Portuguese top flight on 18 August 2012, playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–1 home loss against

C.S. Marítimo Club Sport Marítimo MH M, commonly known as Marítimo ( locally ), is a Portuguese sports club founded in Funchal, Madeira, in 1910. Marítimo is best known for its football team playing in Portugal's top-flight competition, the Primeira Lig ...

. At the end of the campaign, in which he started in all his 28 appearances (scoring in a 1–0 win at

Gil Vicente F.C. Gil Vicente Futebol Clube (), commonly known as Gil Vicente, founded in 1924, is a Portuguese football club that plays in Barcelos. It competes in the Primeira Liga, the top division of football in the country, and it is named after the Portugues ...

on 13 January 2013) to help his team finish in sixth position, he won the club's Player of the Year award. On 23 May 2018, Marcelo joined

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

on a free transfer and a three-year contract. On 27 December, however, after only one appearance in the

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 ...

and another in the Taça da Liga to his credit, he moved to the Major League Soccer with

Chicago Fire FC (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

for a reported €500,000 fee. On 14 January 2020, Marcelo left the

Soldier Field Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) since ...

by mutual consent. Shortly after, he returned to the Portuguese top tier with

F.C. Paços de Ferreira Futebol Clube Paços de Ferreira () is a Portuguese football club based in Paços de Ferreira, Porto district. Founded in 1950, the club competes in the Primeira Liga, holding home games at the 9,077-seater Estádio da Mata Real, a municipal s ...

. Marcelo spent the following two seasons in

Western Asia Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes Ana ...

, with

Al-Tai FC Al-Tai Football Club ( ar, نادي الطائي, nādī aṭ-ṭāyyī, Tayy Club) is a professional football club based in Ha'il, Saudi Arabia, that plays in the Saudi Professional League, the top tier of Saudi football. It was founded in 19 ...

(

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) ( ar, دوري المحترفين السعودي, link=no, ''Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī''), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of associat ...

) and Dibba Al Fujairah Club (

UAE Pro League The UAE Pro League ( ar, دوري المحترفين الإماراتي), known for sponsorship reasons as the ADNOC Pro League, is the top professional football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The first team to win the title was Al ...

Honours

Sporting CP *

: 2018–19 * Taça da Liga: 2018–19 Individual *Rio Ave Player of the Year:

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marcelo 1989 births Living people Brazilian footballers Footballers from São Paulo (state) Association football defenders CR Vasco da Gama players Rio Preto Esporte Clube players Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players G.D. Ribeirão players Rio Ave F.C. players Leixões S.C. players Sporting CP footballers F.C. Paços de Ferreira players Major League Soccer players Chicago Fire FC players Saudi Professional League players Al-Tai FC players UAE Pro League players Dibba FC players Brazilian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates