Marcelo Leite Pereira (born 22 June 1987), known as Marcelinho, is a Brazilian former 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 lea ...

who played as a winger or an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. Having started his professional career with Spanish club

Atlético Madrid B Atlético de Madrid B is a Spanish football team based in Madrid. Founded on 17 September 1963, it is the reserve team of Atlético Madrid and currently plays in Primera Federación – Group 2. They play their home games at Cerro del Espin ...

, 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 () is a Greek Association football, football club based in Xanthi, Western Thrace. They play their home matches at Skoda Xanthi Arena Founded in 1967, Xanthi is well set up in terms of their financial support and youth set ...

. 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 ( ; , ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona ( the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan plateau in Western India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Pune district, and of Pune ...

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

Club career

Born in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, 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 Getafe Club de Fútbol "B" is the reserve team of Getafe CF, club based in Getafe, Madrid metropolitan area, in the namesake community. Founded in 1983, it currently plays in holding home games at '' Ciudad Deportiva Getafe CF''. History Getafe ...

. 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 ( ') is a Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coastal city in Tartous Governorate, western Syria, located south of Latakia and north of Tartous. It is known for its citrus fruit orchards and its export of wood. North of the city is an B ...

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...

, 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 on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

. 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 ), is a Greek professional football club based in Peristeri, a suburban city in the Athens agglomeration, that competes in the Super League. Founded in ...

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

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

preliminary round against AIK, 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 a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

with

Delhi Dynamos FC Odisha Football Club () is an Indian professional football club based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. Prior to the inaugural Indian Super League season, the club was founded ...

. Head coach

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

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 Chennaiyin Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The club competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded in August 2014 during the inaugural sea ...

. On 27 November, he scored a hat-trick in a 5–1 routing of

FC Goa Futebol Clube de Goa is an India, Indian professional association football, football club based in Fatorda, Goa, that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top tier of Football in India, Indian football. The club was established on 2 ...

. He also scored found the net in a 2–1 victory against

Kerala Blasters Kerala Blasters Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Blasters, is an Indian professional football club based in Kochi, Kerala, that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top tier of football in India. The club was esta ...

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 Avaí Futebol Clube () is a Brazilian football team from Florianópolis in Santa Catarina, founded on 1 September 1923. Their home stadium is Estádio Aderbal Ramos da Silva, also known as Ressacada, with a capacity of 17,800. They play in b ...

. In August, he returned to the Indian Super League with

FC Pune City Football Club Pune City was an Indian professional Association football, football club based in Pune, Maharashtra, which last participated in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football league system, under licence from All Ind ...

. 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 Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded on 13 April 2014 during the inaugural sea ...

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

Odisha FC Odisha Football Club () is an Indian professional football club based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. Prior to the inaugural Indian Super League season, the club was founded ...

for the

2020–21 Indian Super League season The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

. On 26 January 2021, He swapped club with Brad Inman and joined

ATK Mohun Bagan FC Mohun Bagan Super Giant, commonly referred to as Mohun Bagan, is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, it is one of the oldest football clubs in Asia. The club competes in the Indian Super League, ...

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 Esporte Clube Taubaté, commonly referred to as Taubaté, is a professional association football club based in Taubaté, São Paulo, Brazil. The team competes in Campeonato Paulista Série A2, the second tier of the São Paulo state football le ...

that competes in the

Campeonato Paulista Série A2 Campeonato Paulista Série A2 is the second tier of the professional state football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is run by the São Paulo State Football Federation (FPF). Clubs 2025 Série A2 List of champions There a ...

, the second tier of the São Paulo State league. On 6 January 2022, Marcelinho joined

NorthEast United NorthEast United Football Club is an Indian professional Association football, football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top flight of Football in India, Indian football. The club was founded on ...

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 Laldanmawia Ralte (born 19 December 1992), popularly known as Danmawia, is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a winger. Club career Born in Mizoram, Laldanmawia Ralte "The Sialhawk Express" began his career in the Mizoram Premier ...

in the 64th minute of the game.

Style of play

Mainly a

left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, 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 the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bein ...

. 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 a season of Indian Super League, the top tier Indian Football System. For sponsorship purposes, it was known as the Alto K10 Gol ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marcelinho 1987 births Living people Men's association football wingers Men's association football forwards Brazilian men's footballers Brazilian expatriate men's 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 FC players Atromitos F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Ipatinga Futebol Clube players UAE Pro League players Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Odisha FC players NorthEast United FC players Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in India Expatriate men's footballers in India Indian Super League players Hyderabad FC players FC Pune City players Footballers from Rio de Janeiro (city) 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen