Marcelo Nascimento da Costa ( bg, Марсело Насименто да Коща; born 24 August 1984), commonly known as Marcelinho ( bg, Марселиньо), is a Brazilian-born naturalized Bulgarian retired 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
midfielder
A midfielder is an 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 central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
.
A youth product of
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 GaWC a ...
, Marcelinho played for
Cascavel,
Santacruzense,
São Caetano and
Catanduvense in his early career. In 2008 he signed with
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 O ...
club
Al-Nasr Dubai
Al-Nasr CSC ( ar, نادي النصر الرياضي) is an Emirati professional football club based in Al Nasr, Dubai and competes in the UAE Pro League. Al-Nasr, literally translating to "victory" in Arabic, was founded in 1945 and is considere ...
. In early 2010, he returned to his home country, joining
Mogi Mirim
Mogi Mirim is a municipality located in the eastern part of São Paulo State, in Brazil. The population is 93,650 (2020 est.) in an area of 498 km². The elevation is 611 m.
Mogi Mirim is around 65 km from Campinas, the biggest city in ...
. Few months later Marcelinho signed with
Bragantino
Red Bull Bragantino, commonly known as Bragantino, is a Brazilian football club based in Bragança Paulista, São Paulo. It competes in the Série A, the top tier of the Brazilian football league system, as well as in the Campeonato Paulista S ...
, before moving to Ludogorets in May 2011. With Ludogorets, he has won nine consecutive
Bulgarian league titles from 2012 to 2020, as well as two
Bulgarian Cup
The Bulgarian Cup ( bg, Купа на България, Kupa na Bulgaria) is a Bulgarian annual football competition. It is the country's main cup competition and all officially registered Bulgarian football teams take part in it.
The tournament ...
s, and four
Bulgarian Supercup
The Bulgarian Supercup ( bg, Суперкупа на България) is the trophy won in a football match held between the football club that has won the Bulgarian first football division in the season that ended in the year of the match and ...
s. With 80 matches played, he holds the record for the most appearances for a Bulgarian team in European tournaments.
Born and raised in Brazil, Marcelinho received Bulgarian citizenship in 2013, and subsequently opted to play internationally for the
Bulgarian national team
The Bulgaria national football team ( bg, Български национален отбор по футбол, Bǎlgarski natsionalen otbor po futbol) represents Bulgaria in men's international football and is administered by the Bulgarian Foo ...
. He made his debut for Bulgaria in a friendly against
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 ...
on 26 March 2016.
His brother,
Gustavo
Gustavo is the Latinate form of a Germanic male given name with respective prevalence in Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian. It has been a common name for Swedish monarchs since the reign of Gustav Vasa.
It is derived from Gustav /ˈɡʊstɑːv/, a ...
, is also a footballer, currently playing for
Olympiakos Nicosia
Olympiakos Nicosia ( el, Ολυμπιακός Λευκωσίας, ''Olympiakos Lefkosias'') is a football club based in Nicosia, Cyprus and competes in the Cypriot First Division. The club was founded in 1931, and is a founding member of the Cy ...
.
Club career
Early career
Marcelinho joined
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 GaWC a ...
as a seventeen-year-old, but he failed to break into the first-team. Since leaving São Paulo in early 2005 he has played for
Cascavel,
Santacruzense,
São Caetano and
Catanduvense. In 2008, Marcelinho joined
Al Nasr in
Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
.
Mogi Mirim
After one season, Marcelinho left the
UAE 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 O ...
side
Al Nasr and signed for
Mogi Mirim
Mogi Mirim is a municipality located in the eastern part of São Paulo State, in Brazil. The population is 93,650 (2020 est.) in an area of 498 km². The elevation is 611 m.
Mogi Mirim is around 65 km from Campinas, the biggest city in ...
. In the first half of 2010 he earned 15 appearances in the
Campeonato Paulista
The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional association football, football league in the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo. Run b ...
. Marcelinho made his debut in a 5–1 away loss against
Palmeiras
Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes. Palmeiras is one of the most popular clubs in South America, with around ...
on 16 January 2010.
Bragantino
In July 2010, Marcelinho signed with
Clube Atlético Bragantino
Red Bull Bragantino, commonly known as Bragantino, is a Brazilian football club based in Bragança Paulista, São Paulo. It competes in the Série A, the top tier of the Brazilian football league system, as well as in the Campeonato Paulista S ...
, where he played 24 matches and scored four goals to the end of the season in the
Campeonato Brasileiro Série B
The Campeonato Brasileiro Série B is commonly referred to as the Brasileirão Série B (Série B), and until 2022 was officially called Brasileirão Sportingbet by sponsorship reasons. It is the second tier of the Brazilian football league system ...
. Marcelinho made his first-team debut in a 2–0 home defeat at
Ponte Preta on 31 July. In 2011, he appeared 17 times for Bragantino in the
Campeonato Paulista
The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional association football, football league in the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo. Run b ...
, scoring one goal. Marcelinho netted his first goal of 2011 as he scored the winning strike in a 2–1 home victory over
Santos on 19 March.
Ludogorets Razgrad
![Marcelinho 2011](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Marcelinho_2011.jpg)
On 12 May 2011, Marcelinho joined
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
n team
Ludogorets Razgrad on a three-year deal and was assigned the number 84 jersey. Marcelinho's debut came in Ludogorets's opening match in the
2011–12 season, at home to
Lokomotiv Plovdiv
PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv ( bg, ПФК Локомотив Пловдив), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park ...
on 6 August. Two weeks later, on 20 August, he scored his first competitive goals for Ludogorets, netting twice in a 4–0 win over
Vidima-Rakovski. On 16 May 2012, Marcelinho was named "Man of the match" in a 2–1 win against
Lokomotiv Plovdiv
PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv ( bg, ПФК Локомотив Пловдив), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park ...
in the
2012 Bulgarian Cup Final
The 2012 Bulgarian Cup Final was the 72nd final of the Bulgarian Cup, and was contested between Lokomotiv Plovdiv and Ludogorets Razgrad on 16 May 2012.
Ludogorets won the final 2–1, claiming their first Bulgarian Cup title. After Dakson ope ...
. He scored both Ludogorets goals late in the match to turn around what had appeared to be a certain defeat for Ludogorets at the hands of Lokomotiv. In the league, Marcelinho scored 9 goals and collected his first
A Group
The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...
title winner's medal at the end of his first season in Bulgaria.
Marcelinho started the 2012–13 season by scoring the third goal in Ludogorets 3–1 win against Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the
2012 Bulgarian Supercup
The 2012 Bulgarian Supercup was the tenth Bulgarian Supercup match, a football match which was contested between the "A" professional football group champion, Ludogorets, and the runner-up of the Bulgarian Cup, Lokomotiv Plovdiv. As the Bulgaria ...
on 11 July. A week later, he scored his first-ever Champions League goal, opening the scoring in a 1–1 home draw against
Dinamo Zagreb
Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...
in their second qualifying round first leg tie. He ended the campaign with 9 goals in all competitions.
On 19 December 2013, Marcelinho was named the Best foreign player in the Bulgarian league.
On 1 October 2014, Marcelinho scored a stunning goal in the 6th minute during
Ludogorets' home debut in the
2014–15 Champions League group phase against the current Champions League champion
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
, but in an eventual 1–2 loss. A few days later, he signed a one-year contract extension, keeping him at Ludogorets until 2016. On 19 April 2015, Marcelinho made his 100th league appearance for Ludogorets in a 3–1 home win over
Litex Lovech
Litex ( bg, Литекс) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Lovech, which currently competes in the Second League. The club was founded in 1921 as Hisarya Sports Club.
The club's home ground is the Gradski Stadion ...
. On 1 October 2017, he opened the scoring in an
A PFG match against
Beroe, managing his 57th goal in the league (in 171 matches) and thus overtaking the tally of fellow naturalized
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 ...
ian
Marquinhos
Marcos Aoás Corrêa (born 14 May 1994), known as Marquinhos, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain, which he captains, and the Brazil national team. Mainly a centre-back, he can ...
, which allowed him to become the foreign footballer with the most goals in the top Bulgarian division. Marcelinho's record was subsequently itself surpassed by teammate
Claudiu Keșerü
Claudiu Andrei Keșerü (; born 2 December 1986) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays mainly as a striker for Liga I club UTA Arad.
After starting out at hometown side FC Oradea, he soon moved to Nantes in 2003. Over the course of n ...
. In mid July 2019, he was frozen out of the first team by manager
Stoycho Stoev
Stoycho Zahariev Stoev ( bg, Стойчо Захариев Стоев; born 15 July 1962) is a Bulgarian former footballer and manager.
Manager career
On 23 July 2013, Bulgaria champions Ludogorets Razgrad replaced coach Ivaylo Petev with Stoy ...
, following a number of disciplinary breaches. He returned to first team action on 18 August, as a substitute in the match against
Cherno More Varna, providing an assist, but also being sent off for a second booking.
On 28 June 2020 Marcelinho announced that he will leave the club after 9 years, despite his desire to stay in the club for one more year. Ludogorets subsequently retired the number 84 in his honour for his service to the club.
International career
On 24 January 2013, Marcelinho received a
Bulgarian passport from the local authorities and became eligible to play for
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
. He later stated in an interview that he would be happy to represent Bulgaria at international level.
On 7 March 2016, Marcelinho was called up for the first time to the
Bulgarian national team
The Bulgaria national football team ( bg, Български национален отбор по футбол, Bǎlgarski natsionalen otbor po futbol) represents Bulgaria in men's international football and is administered by the Bulgarian Foo ...
for the friendly matches against
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 ...
and
Macedonia. He scored on his international debut at
Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa against Portugal on 25 March, scoring the only goal for a 1–0 win. Despite his good performance with the team Marcelinho never received call-ups from
Ivaylo Petev's successor
Petar Hubchev
Petar Kanchev Hubchev ( bg, Петър Кънчев Хубчев; born 26 February 1964) is a Bulgarian football manager and former player who played for Hamburger SV and Eintracht Frankfurt in the German Bundesliga. Considered one of the great ...
as he didn't want naturalized players in the team.
In 2019 the new national manager
Krasimir Balakov
Krasimir Genchev Balakov ( bg, Красимир Генчев Балъков, ; born 29 March 1966) is a Bulgarian professional football manager and former player who last served as the head coach of Bulgarian club CSKA 1948. A former attacking ...
once again picked Marcelinho as part of the squad for the
UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifications matches on 7 and 10 June against
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
and
Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
, though he had to withdraw due to an injury.
Career statistics
Club
International
International matches
International goals
:''Scores and results list Bulgaria's goal tally first.''
Honours
Club
; Ludogorets
*
Bulgarian First League
The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...
(9):
2011–12,
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 ...
,
2013–14,
2014–15,
2015–16,
2016–17,
2017–18,
2018–19,
2019–20
*
Bulgarian Cup
The Bulgarian Cup ( bg, Купа на България, Kupa na Bulgaria) is a Bulgarian annual football competition. It is the country's main cup competition and all officially registered Bulgarian football teams take part in it.
The tournament ...
(2):
2011–12,
2013–14
*
Bulgarian Supercup
The Bulgarian Supercup ( bg, Суперкупа на България) is the trophy won in a football match held between the football club that has won the Bulgarian first football division in the season that ended in the year of the match and ...
(4):
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
,
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 ...
,
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
,
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
Individual
* Best foreign player in the
A Group
The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...
- 2013
* Best midfielder in the
Bulgarian First League
The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...
- 2017
* Players' Player of the Year in the
A Group
The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...
- 2015, 2017
* As of 29 November 2018, Ludogorets'
all-time leader in league appearances (218) and European goals (14).
References
External links
*
Player Profileat Esporte.ig.com.br
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marcelinho
1984 births
Living people
Bulgarian footballers
Bulgaria international footballers
Brazilian footballers
Brazilian expatriate footballers
Associação Desportiva São Caetano players
Al-Nasr SC (Dubai) players
Mogi Mirim Esporte Clube players
Clube Atlético Bragantino players
PFC Ludogorets Razgrad players
Esporte Clube Vitória players
UAE Pro League players
Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players
First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates
Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates
Association football midfielders
Expatriate footballers in Bulgaria
Brazilian emigrants to Bulgaria
Naturalised citizens of Bulgaria
Footballers from São Paulo (state)