Marcelo dos Santos (born 17 May 1975), known as Marcelinho Paraíba or simply Marcelinho, is a Brazilian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

and former player who played as 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. ...

. In Brazil, he is also known as Marcelinho ''Paraíba'', which refers to the state in which he was born, as a means to distinguish himself from other players also called "Marcelinho". He was one of the best

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a footballer who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing Passing (association football), passing moves which lead to Goal (sport), goals, through ...

s in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

because of his extravagant skills that include his visionary passing, abundance of tricks, and his world-class technique.

Career

Born in

Campina Grande Campina Grande is the second most populous Brazilian city in the State of Paraíba after João Pessoa, Paraíba, João Pessoa, the capital. It is considered to be the most important city of the Northeastern Brazilian subregion called ''agreste''. ...

Paraíba Paraíba ( , ; ) is a states of Brazil, state of Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Northeast, and it is bordered by Rio Grande do Norte to the north, Ceará to the west, Pernambuco to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Paraíba i ...

, Marcelinho Paraíba began his career in Campinense, where he won two league titles there. Between 1994 and 1995, he played for Santos. Two years later, however, he made his breakthrough at

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 ...

, where he won two Paulistões before being sold to

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; , ), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional Association football, football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top f ...

. He only spent a year in France, and in 2001 he returned to Brazil to play for Grêmio, where he began to experience the pinnacle of his career. At that time, Marcelinho Paraiba was called "Marcelinho Paraúcho" by Gremistas, because of his passage in the team. He became champion and top scorer of the Campeonato Gaúcho, and champion of the

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil () 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 it is the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de Portugal, ...

, where he scored a goal in the second game in the final against Corinthians, but did not play in the league that year because before the tournament, he signed a five-year contract with

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC () or Hertha Berlin, is a German professional football club based in Berlin. Hertha BSC plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football league system, German footbal ...

. Marcelinho played for Hertha from 2001 to 2006. He is ranked among the most important players in the association's history and there Marcelinho was known as a technically talented player, serving as a

and leader while performing in both the midfield and forward area. In addition, he carried the responsibility of executing the free kicks,

corner kick A corner kick, commonly known as a corner, is the method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball goes out of play over the goal line, without a goal being scored and having last been touched by a member of the defe ...

s, and

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

s of the club. The personal trademarks of this extravagant football player are his usually remarkable shoes and his often multicolored hair. He was capped fives times for the

Brazil national football team The Brazil national football team (), nicknamed ''Seleção Canarinho'' ("Canary Squad", after their bright yellow jersey), represents Brazil in men's international Association football, football and is administered by the Brazilian Football Co ...

, for which he scored once. At the beginning of the 2006–07 season, he arbitrarily extended his off-season vacation by nine days, which led to some slight tension with the Hertha association management. After Marcelinho had expressed himself, in the following the days, contradictory statements as to whether he wanted to remain at Hertha or not, he ended his term with them, signing a three-year contract with Turkish club

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Trabzon, located in Black Sea region, northeastern Turkey. Established in 1967 through the merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor is one of the most prominent A ...

for approximately 2.5 million

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

s. In August 2008, Marcelinho Paraíba returned to Brazil to play for

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...

. On 6 March 2009,

Coritiba Coritiba Foot Ball Club, commonly known as Coritiba and colloquially referred to as heCoxa, is a Brazilian football club from Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná. Founded in 1909 by German immigrants, it is the olde ...

signed the forward on a free transfer until the end of the year, as Marcelinho terminated his contract with Flamengo. After the relegation of Coritiba, he re-signed for São Paulo on 18 December 2009. On 9 August 2010, he was loaned to

Sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

till the end of the 2010 season and his contract was extended to the end of the 2011 season. Marcelinho subsequently represented Sport, Boa Esporte,

Fortaleza Fortaleza ( ; ; ) is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeastern Brazil. It is Brazil's 4th largest city—Fortaleza surpassed Salvador, Bahia, Salvador in 2022 census with a population of slightly over 2.4 mi ...

, Internacional de Lages (two stints),

Joinville Joinville () is the largest city in Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina, in the Southern Brazil, Southern Region of Brazil. It is the third largest municipality in the southern region of Brazil, after the much larger state capitals of Curitib ...

, Oeste, Ypiranga de Erechim Treze and Portuguesa.

Retirement and return

On 15 March 2020, he announced his retirement as a professional player, playing for Perilima against Centro Sportivo Paraibano in the eighth round of the 2020 Campeonato Paraibano; however, eight months later, he changed his mind and rejoined Treze in an effort to help them avoid relegation. He made his first appearance since returning from retirement on 28 November as a half-time substitute in a 1–1 draw with Vila Nova, being substituted himself in the 78th minute.

International goals

Managerial career

On 10 December 2020, after Treze suffered relegation from the

2020 Campeonato Brasileiro Série C The 2020 Campeonato Brasileiro Série C was a football competition held in Brazil, equivalent to the third division. The competition was originally scheduled to begin on 3 May and end on 8 November, however due to COVID-19 pandemic the tournament ...

, Marcelinho was appointed manager of the club for the 2021 campaign. Despite a promising start in the 2021 Copa do Nordeste, he couldn't arrest a drop in performance which saw his side finish fourth in the first stage of the 2021 Campeonato Paraibano, and on 24 May 2021 he was dismissed. He joined Sport-PB as manager in September 2021. He was in role for only 15 days before resigning due to off-field problems. In late October 2021 he was announced as the coach of Oeirense for the 2022 season. He was sacked in February 2022, after six games of the season, following a heavy defeat. On 11 March 2022 he was announced as coach of Treze for a second time.

Honours

Club

Campinense *

Campeonato Paraibano The Campeonato Paraibano is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Paraíba Paraíba ( , ; ) is a states of Brazil, state of Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Northeast, and it is bordered by Rio Gr ...

: 1991, 1993 São Paulo *

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the São Paulo State Football Federation (FPF), ...

: 1998, 2000 Grêmio *

Campeonato Gaúcho The Campeonato Gaúcho (English: Gaúcho Championship), officially named as Campeonato Gaúcho de Futebol Série A and commonly known as the Gauchão or the Gauchão Ipiranga (company), Ipiranga for sponsorship reasons, is the top-flight profess ...

: 2001 *

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

Hertha BSC *

DFB-Ligapokal The DFL-Ligapokal (, officially Premiere Ligapokal , previously DFB-Ligapokal ) or the ''German League Cup'' was a German association football, football competition that took place before the start of the Bundesliga season, featuring the top five t ...

: 2001, 2002 Boa Esporte *

Taça Minas Gerais The Taça Minas Gerais is a traditional football tournament played in the Minas Gerais state in Brazil. From 1973 through 1977 and then in 1980 and 1981, was a separate competition. In 1979 and from 1982 to 1987, it was played as one of the phases ...

: 2012

Individual

*'' kicker''

Team of the Season: 2002–03, 2004–05

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paraiba, Marcelinho 1975 births Living people Brazilian men's footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Santos FC players Rio Branco Esporte Clube players São Paulo FC players Olympique de Marseille players Grêmio FBPA players Hertha BSC players Trabzonspor footballers Süper Lig players VfL Wolfsburg players CR Flamengo footballers Coritiba Foot Ball Club players Sport Club do Recife players Grêmio Barueri Futebol players Fortaleza Esporte Clube players Esporte Clube Internacional (SC) players Joinville Esporte Clube players Oeste Futebol Clube players Ypiranga Futebol Clube players Treze Futebol Clube players Associação Portuguesa de Desportos players Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Brazil men's international footballers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Bundesliga players Men's association football midfielders Ligue 1 players Footballers from Campina Grande Brazilian football managers Treze Futebol Clube managers