Marcelo Martins Moreno (born 18 June 1987), known as Marcelo Martins in Bolivia and as Marcelo Moreno in other countries, is a Bolivian 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 as a striker for

Paraguayan Primera División The División Profesional de la Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol (; "Professional Division of the Paraguayan Football Association"), also known as the Primera División (; "first division"), or due to sponsorship reasons Copa de Primera TIGO-Vis ...

club

Cerro Porteño Club Cerro Porteño is a professional Paraguayan football club, based in the neighbourhood of Obrero in Asunción. Founded in 1912, Cerro has won 34 Primera División titles and is one of the most popular football clubs in Paraguay. Its presi ...

and

captains Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

the Bolivia national team. He is considered one of the greatest Bolivian players of all time. With 30 goals, he is the national team's all-time top goalscorer.

Club career

Moreno was born in

Santa Cruz de la Sierra Santa Cruz de la Sierra (; "Holy Cross of the Mountain Range"), commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the largest city in Bolivia and the capital of the Santa Cruz Department (Bolivia), Santa Cruz department. Situated on the Pirai River (Bolivia), P ...

, Bolivia. He began his career at

Oriente Petrolero Club Deportivo Oriente Petrolero () is a Bolivian football club based in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. They play at the 38,000-capacity Estadio Tahuichi Aguilera. Oriente have been Bolivian champions five times, Copa Aerosur winners two ti ...

. In 2003, Martins debuted for the club as a 16-year-old in Bolivia's Primera División. He moved to Vitória, becoming first choice in 2006, at the

Campeonato Brasileiro Série C The Campeonato Brasileiro Série C is the third tier of the Brazilian football league system. Unlike the first and second divisions, the Série C is not played in a double round robin system, arguably because many participating teams lack the f ...

. He scored 12 goals in the competition, four less than the top goalscorer. In the middle of 2007, he moved to Cruzeiro, becoming first choice only in the next year, when he scored 8 goals at the

2008 Copa Libertadores The 2008 Copa Libertadores de América was the 49th edition of the Copa Libertadores, CONMEBOL's premier annual international club tournament. This marked the first year the competition was sponsored by Spanish bank Santander. As such, the compet ...

, being the top goalscorer, alongside

Salvador Cabañas Salvador Cabañas Ortega (born 5 August 1980) is a Paraguayan former professional footballer who played as a striker. Cabañas played for Club 12 de Octubre, Guaraní, Audax Italiano, Chiapas, Club América, General Caballero, Tanabi and Ind ...

. On 27 May 2008, he signed a five-year contract with

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk ( uk, Футбольний клуб «Шахтар» Донецьк , short nickname "miners") is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Donetsk. In 2014, due to the War in Donbass, the club was f ...

. The Ukrainian club agreed to pay €9 million for the player. On 1 November, he scored a brace in a 3–1 league match win against

Zorya Luhansk FC Zorya Luhansk ( uk, ФК «Зоря» Луганськ ) is a Ukrainian football team. Zorya Luhansk is based in the city of Luhansk, Ukraine. However, because of the Russo-Ukrainian War, the team play their games at Slavutych-Arena in Zapori ...

. Even though he had won the 2008–09 UEFA Cup, on 29 May 2009, unable to establish himself in Donetsk, Moreno joined German club

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are be ...

on loan. Bremen had initially attempted to sign Moreno the previous summer, but the player opted for Shakhtar. In a 2009 interview, Martins remarked that he didn't want to go to Ukraine at the moment of signing with Shakhtar, but that was the way the negotiation was produced. He commented that it was a difficult moment but it was a moment of adaptation to a new football.https://www.dw.com/es/marcelo-moreno-ahora-estoy-en-la-liga In 2009, he said that when speaking in

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

with team mates

Naldo Naldo may refer to: * Ronaldo Aparecido Rodrigues (born 1982), Brazilian football defender * Edinaldo Gomes Pereira (born 1988), Brazilian football defender * Marinaldo dos Santos Oliveira (born 1990), commonly known as Naldo, Brazilian footballer ...

and

Hugo Almeida Hugo Miguel Pereira de Almeida (born 23 May 1984) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a centre-forward. After failing to establish himself at Porto, being loaned several times during his contract, he made a name for h ...

that he would feel Brazilian, that Brazil was an important country in his life cause he lived in it for half of his life. On 2 August 2009, he scored a double in a 2009–10 DFB-Pokal match that ended in a 5–0 victory against

Union Berlin 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., commonly known as 1. FC Union Berlin () or Union Berlin, is a professional German football club in Köpenick, Berlin. The club's origins can be traced to 1906, when its predecessor FC Olympia Oberschöneweid ...

. On 29 January 2010, Bremen terminated his contract and he returned to

. On

transfer deadline day A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer w ...

, a six-month loan deal between Shakhtar and

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

was agreed to take the player to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

. He signed for them on 1 February on loan. After returning to Shakhtar, he made a decent impression, scoring 7 times in 23 appearances. However, after being listed as a reserve the next season, Moreno joined Grêmio in late December 2011 and signed a five-year contract with the Brazilian team starting in 2012. He was then loaned to

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football ...

in the 2013 season and Cruzeiro in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

. In February 2015, Moreno transferred to

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

side Changchun Yatai. His first season in China was successful, scoring 20+ goals in 53 games. In 2017 he signed for

Wuhan Zall Wuhan Yangtze River Football Club, formerly Wuhan Zall Football Club (), is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based i ...

in the

Chinese League One The Chinese Football Association China League (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (中甲联赛), is the second level of professional football in China. Above League One is the Chinese Super League. Prior to the formation of ...

being the joint top scorer in his first season with 23 league goals, along with Colombian

Harold Preciado Harold Fabián Preciado Villarreal (; born 1 June 1994) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga MX team Santos Laguna. Club career Harold Preciado would start his senior career with top tier club Deportivo Cali i ...

. In 2019 Moreno signed with Shijiazhuang Ever Bright. Although he only played 12 games with them, he scored 7 goals. On 19 February 2020, Moreno returned for his former club, Cruzeiro, signing with them for 3 seasons. On 30 January 2022, ABC Color announced that Martins would join

Primera División Paraguaya Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

team Cerro Porteño. He would be the attacking replacement of Argentine

Mauro Boselli Mauro Boselli (born 22 May 1985) is an Argentine professional association football, footballer who plays as a striker (association football), striker for Estudiantes de La Plata. Boselli began his career at Argentine Primera División, Argenti ...

. The transfer took effect on 9 February 2022 of Paraguay's summer transfer window. On 10 February, Martins arrived to

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

and was officially presented at Cerro Porteño. He signed for 2 years. He was presented with the number 9 shirt. His salary would not be paid by the club, instead by a private company would. Before signing, Martins spoke with Cerro Porteño coach

Francisco Arce Francisco Javier "Chiqui" Arce Rolón (; born 2 April 1971) is a retired Paraguayan footballer and coach. He played at the right defender position, competing a total of 61 times for the Paraguay national team between 1995 and 2004. He is curre ...

, who sent him videos so he can adapt to his play as quick as possible. Martins remarked that Arce was important so that he could join Cerro Porteño. His arrival into Paraguay was made through Cerro Porteño's director, Miguel Carrizosa, who lent his airplane to bring Martins. He became Cerro Porteño's 5th signing ahead of the 2022 Primera División season, following

William Riveros William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, Robert Piris Da Motta, Sergio Díaz and

Alfio Oviedo Alfio Ovidio Oviedo Álvarez (born 18 December 1995) is a Paraguayan footballer who plays for Libertad and the Paraguay national football team. International career Alfio has been called to the U-20 team but only for friendlies. In the senior t ...

International career

Born in Bolivia to a Brazilian father (Mauro Martins, former footballer) and Bolivian mother, Moreno played for the Brazilian under-18 and under-20 sides at the youth level, becoming the first foreign player to be part of this youth setup and the fifth foreign player to wear the Brazilian national team's shirt in an official match, but chose to represent the Bolivian senior national team as a professional. Due to his success playing for Cruzeiro, Moreno received his first call-up for a friendly match against

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

on 12 September 2007. He scored his first two international goals on 20 November 2007, during a 2010 World Cup qualifier against

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. On 14 October 2008, he scored both of Bolivia's goals against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

in a 2–2 draw. He also opened the scoring in Bolivia's historic 6–1 victory over Diego Maradona's

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

on 1 April 2009. A few months later, in October, he scored the winning goal in a 2–1 victory against powerhouse

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Estadio Hernando Siles Estadio Hernando Siles is a multi-purpose stadium in La Paz, Bolivia. It is the country's largest stadium, with a capacity of 41,143 seats. It is named after Hernando Siles Reyes, the 31st President of Bolivia (1926–1930). The stadium is locat ...

. Moreno was included in the Bolivia squad for the

2015 Copa América The 2015 Copa América was the 44th edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America, and took place in Chile between 11 June and 4 July 2015. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. On 15 June, he scored the decisive goal in the team's second group match – a 3–2 defeat of

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

– to give ''La Verde'' its first win at the

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

since the 1997 tournament. He was Bolivia's top scorer at the tournament with two goals, also being the only Bolivian player to score in the knockout stage as the side lost 3–1 to

in the quarter-finals. Moreno announced his retirement from the national squad on 15 September 2015 together with then captain Ronald Raldes, claiming divergences with head coach

Julio César Baldivieso Julio César Baldivieso Rico (born 2 December 1971) is a Bolivian football coach and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. Baldivieso was a midfielder who played for the Bolivia national team at the 1994 World Cup and several Co ...

. Moreno returned to the national squad in 2016 after

Guillermo Ángel Hoyos Guillermo () is the Spanish form of the male given name William. The name is also commonly shortened to 'Guille' or, in Latin America, to nickname 'Memo'. People *Guillermo Amor (born 1967), Spanish football manager and former player *Guillermo Ar� ...

replaced Baldivieso. On 12 November 2020, Moreno scored his 20th international goal in a 3–2 defeat to Ecuador, equaling

Joaquín Botero Joaquín Botero Vaca (born 10 December 1977) is a Bolivian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the second all-time top goalscorer for the Bolivia national team with 20 goals, and was the top goalscorer in world foo ...

's all-time top goalscoring record for Bolivia.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Bolivia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Moreno goal''.Marcelo Martins Moreno - International Appearances
/ref>

Honours

Vitória *

Campeonato Baiano The Campeonato Baiano is the football league of the state of Bahia, Brazil. The championship has been played since 1905 without interruption. 2020 format First stage: 10 teams are included in one group, playing once only against all teams in ...

: 2005, 2007 Cruzeiro *

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian"), and also known as Brasileirão Assaí due to sponsorship with Assaí Atacadista, is a Br ...

Campeonato Mineiro Campeonato Mineiro is the state football league of the state of Minas Gerais and is controlled by the Minas Gerais Football Federation FMF (Federação Mineira de Futebol). The history of Campeonato Mineiro can be divided into two parts: befor ...

: 2008,

Shakhtar Donetsk *

Ukrainian Premier League The Ukrainian Premier League ( uk, "Українська Прем'єр-ліга", ''Ukrayinska Premier Liha'') or UPL is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. As the Vyshcha Liha ( uk, Вища ліга, ''Top League'') ...

: 2010–11 *

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

: 2008–09 Werder Bremen * DFL-Supercup:

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Flamengo *

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil ( en, Brazil Cup) is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Individual *

Copa Libertadores de América The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club association football, football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level ...

top scorer:

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

China League One The Chinese Football Association China League (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (中甲联赛), is the second level of professional football in China. Above League One is the Chinese Super League. Prior to the formation of ...

top goalscorer:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martins Moreno, Marcelo 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Santa Cruz de la Sierra Bolivian people of Brazilian descent Sportspeople of Brazilian descent People with acquired Brazilian citizenship Brazilian footballers Brazilian people of Bolivian descent Bolivian footballers Association football forwards Oriente Petrolero players Esporte Clube Vitória players Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense players CR Flamengo footballers FC Shakhtar Donetsk players SV Werder Bremen players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Changchun Yatai F.C. players Wuhan F.C. players Cerro Porteño players Cangzhou Mighty Lions F.C. players Campeonato Brasileiro Série C players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Ukrainian Premier League players Bundesliga players Premier League players Chinese Super League players China League One players UEFA Cup winning players Paraguayan Primera División players Brazil youth international footballers Bolivia international footballers 2011 Copa América players 2015 Copa América players 2019 Copa América players 2021 Copa América players Bolivian expatriate footballers Bolivian expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Bolivian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Bolivian expatriate sportspeople in England Bolivian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Bolivian expatriate sportspeople in China Expatriate footballers in Brazil Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Ukraine Expatriate footballers in China