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 lea ...

who plays for as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

club

Moreirense Moreirense Futebol Clube is a Portuguese professional football club based in Moreira de Cónegos, Guimarães Municipality, Minho. Founded on 1 November 1938, it plays in the Primeira Liga, holding home games at Parque de Jogos Comendador Joaquim d ...

Club career

Marcelo was born in

São Carlos São Carlos (Saint Charles, in English, ; named after Charles Borromeo, Saint Charles Borromeo) is a Brazilian city and municipality in the Interior of São Paulo, interior of the state of São Paulo, 254 kilometers from the city of São Paulo. ...

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

. After failing to impose himself at

CR Vasco da Gama Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama (; English: Vasco da Gama Club of Rowing), commonly referred to as Vasco da Gama or simply Vasco, is a sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Although originally a rowing club and then a multi-sport club, Va ...

, he joined amateurs Rio Preto Esporte Clube. In 2010, Marcelo moved to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

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

with Rio Ave FC, being immediately loaned to

Leixões SC The Port of Leixões (, ) is one of Portugal's major seaports, located 4 km north of the mouth of the Douro River, in Matosinhos municipality, near the city of Porto. Leixões Sport Club, commonly known simply as ''Leixões'', is Matosinho ...

. 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 or Marítimo da Madeira, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in the city of Funchal, on the island of Madeira. Established in 1910, Marítimo is best known for its football team ...

. 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. 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 (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

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 (; ) 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 Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

and another in the

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual club football competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the top two tiers of Portuguese football – the ...

to his credit, he moved to the

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

with

Chicago Fire FC Chicago Fire Football Club is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Chicago. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The Fire play their hom ...

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, Chicago, 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 from the National ...

by mutual consent. Shortly after, he returned to the Portuguese top tier with F.C. Paços de Ferreira. Marcelo spent the following two seasons in

Western Asia West Asia (also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia) is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenian ...

, with

Al-Tai FC Al-Tai Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in the city of Ha'il, in north-western Saudi Arabia, that plays in the Saudi First Division League, the second tier of Saudi football. History Al-Tai won the ...

(

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

) and

Dibba Al Fujairah Club Dibba Football Club (), commonly referred to as Dibba Club, is an Emirati professional football club based in Dibba Al-Fujairah, which competes in the UAE First Division League. It is part of ''Dibba Sports and Cultural Club''. Stadiums Dibb ...

(

UAE Pro League The UAE Pro League (), also known as the ADNOC Pro League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the highest level of the Emirati football league system. The first team to w ...

). He went back to Portugal and its main division in July 2023, with the 34-year-old signing a one-year contract at recently-promoted side

Moreirense FC Moreirense Futebol Clube is a Portuguese professional football club based in Moreira de Cónegos, Guimarães Municipality, Minho. Founded on 1 November 1938, it plays in the Primeira Liga, holding home games at Parque de Jogos Comendador Joaqui ...

. On 16 December 2023, Marcelo extended his link at the

Parque de Jogos Comendador Joaquim de Almeida Freitas Parque de Jogos Comendador Joaquim de Almeida Freitas is a multi-use stadium in Moreira de Cónegos, Braga, Portugal. It is currently used for football (soccer), football matches and is the home stadium of Moreirense F.C., Moreirense. The stadi ...

until 2025.

Honours

Sporting CP *

: 2018–19 *

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

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marcelo 1989 births Living people 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen Brazilian men's footballers Footballers from São Carlos Men's association football central 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 Moreirense F.C. players Major League Soccer players Chicago Fire FC players Saudi Pro League players Al-Tai FC players UAE Pro League players Dibba Al Fujairah FC players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate men's 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