Marcelo Leite Pereira (born 22 June 1987), better known as Marcelinho, 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 le ...

who played as a winger or an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

. Having started his professional career with Spanish club Atlético Madrid B, Marcelinho has played for Brazilian, Spanish, Greek, Emirati and Indian clubs. He amassed more than 100 caps with Greek club

Skoda Xanthi Xanthi Football Club ( el, Α.Ο. Ξάνθη Π.Α.Ε.) is a Greek professional football club based in Xanthi, Western Thrace and plays at Xanthi FC Arena. The club resigned from the Super League 2 due to financial issues. Founded in 1967, Xan ...

. His Major Club career success came in India at ISL as he finished

2016 Indian Super League season The 2016 Indian Super League season was the third season of the Indian Super League, the football league, since its establishment in 2013. The season featured eight teams again, each playing 14 matches during the regular season before the final ...

as the league's top scorer and won the Golden Boot with Delhi Dyanamos. Then he went on to play for

Pune City Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

in the ISL in 2017–18 and 2018–19 season.

Club career

Born in

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 b ...

, Marcelinho started his senior professional career at the age of 18 with the reserves of Atlético Madrid, followed by a stint with Getafe CF B. In 2008, he signed a contract with Kalamata. After a few months there he signed a contract with

and he stayed there for four years and then he signed with

Baniyas Baniyas ( ar, بَانِيَاس ') is a Mediterranean coastal city in Tartous Governorate, northwestern Syria, located south of Latakia (ancient Laodicea) and north of Tartous (ancient Tortosa). It is known for its citrus fruit orchards an ...

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

, for a fee of €600,000. At Skoda Xanthi, Marcelinho played 115 games( 17 goals, 14 assists) in all competitions. In March 2014 Sky Sport reported that Marcelinho had signed a one-year contract (with an option for two additional years) with

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

. Eventually, on 12 July 2014, it was officially announced that Marcelinho signed a one-year contract with Catania on a free transfer. On 18 January 2015, he signed with

Atromitos F.C. Atromitos Football Club (, ''PAE APS Atromitos Athinon''), also simply known as Atromitos (literally meaning "Fearless"), is a Greek professional football club based in Peristeri, Athens, that plays in the Super League. It was founded in 1923 ...

on a -year contract. On 30 July 2015, in a game for

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

preliminary round against

AIK Solna AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simply as AIK (), an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (meaning ''the public'' or ''general sports club''), is a Swedish football club competing in Allsvenskan, the top flight of Swedish football. The ...

, he was the man of the match having one assist, a goal and a drawn penalty, in a victorious 3–1 away win. On 4 February 2016, he mutually agreed with the club to rescind his contract. On 25 August 2016, Marcelinho switched to the

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

with Delhi Dynamos FC. Head coach

Gianluca Zambrotta Gianluca Zambrotta (; born 19 February 1977) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a right-back or as a wide midfielder, on both the left and right wings. Throughout his career, Zambrotta played for several different Italia ...

said that his experience would help the team. On 6 October, he made his first team debut, scoring a brace in a 3–1 victory against Chennaiyin FC. On 27 November, he scored a hat-trick in a 5–1 routing of

FC Goa Football Club Goa is an Indian professional football club based in Goa, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was established on 26 August 2014. Nicknamed as '' Gaurs'', the club plays their ho ...

. He also scored found the net in a 2–1 victory against Kerala Blasters in the semi-finals. He ended the season as the league's top scorer with 10 goals and subsequently won the Golden Boot. On 16 January 2017, Marcelinho signed with Brazilian top tier club Avaí FC. In August, he returned to the Indian Super League with FC Pune City. On 26 November, he scored a brace in a 4–1 victory against ATK. On 30 December, he scored a hat-trick against

NorthEast United FC NorthEast United FC is an Indian professional football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded on 13 April 2014 during the inaugural season of Indian Supe ...

as his side won by 5–0. On 2 September 2020, Marcelinho joined ISL club Odisha FC for the

2020–21 Indian Super League season The 2020–21 Indian Super League season was the seventh season of the Indian Super League (ISL) since its formation and the 25th season of the top division of the Indian football league system. The season started on 20 November 2020 and ended ...

. On 26 January 2021, He swapped club with Brad Inman and joined ATK Mohun Bagan FC on loan till the end of 2020–21 Indian Super League season. He scored his first goal in debut for ATK Mohun Bagan. On 23 April 2021, Marcelinho joined Esporte Clube Taubaté that competes in the Campeonato Paulista Série A2, the second tier of the

São Paulo State league The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the FPF, the league is contested between 16 clubs and typ ...

. On 6 January 2022, Marcelinho joined

NorthEast United NorthEast United FC is an Indian professional football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded on 13 April 2014 during the inaugural season of Indian Supe ...

from Rajasthan United on loan deal till the end of 2021–22 Indian Super League season. He made his debut against Chennaiyin on 21 January, which ended in a 2–1 loss as a substitute for Laldanmawia Ralte in the 64th minute of the game.

Style of play

Mainly a left winger, Marcelinho can also play on the right wing. Since his youth days, he has been playing as a winger or as a second striker. In an interview, he said that he considered "a wide position to be his favourite on the pitch" because it gave him space to run.

Personal life

He is married to Juliana. They parent Giovanna (born 15 November 2013) and Enrico (born 6 December 2017)

Career statistics

Honours

Individual *

Indian Super League Golden Boot The Indian Super League Golden Boot is an annual association football award presented to the leading goalscorer in the Indian Super League. For sponsorship purposes, it was known as the Alto K10 Golden Boot from 2014 to 2015, the Swift Golden ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marcelinho 1987 births Living people Association football wingers Association football forwards Brazilian footballers Brazilian expatriate footballers Super League Greece players Serie B players Getafe CF B players Kalamata F.C. players Xanthi F.C. players Tombense Futebol Clube players Baniyas Club players Catania S.S.D. players Atromitos F.C. players Expatriate footballers in Greece Ipatinga Futebol Clube players UAE Pro League players Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate footballers in Italy Odisha FC players NorthEast United FC players Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in India Expatriate footballers in India Indian Super League players Hyderabad FC players FC Pune City players Footballers from Rio de Janeiro (city)