Marcos Abel Flores Benard (; born 23 October 1985) is an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

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 last played for, and captained,

Adelaide City Adelaide City Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club based in Oakden, a north-eastern suburb of Adelaide. The club was a founding member of the now-defunct National Soccer League (NSL) and currently competes in the National Premier ...

Biography

Unión de Santa Fe

On 17 April 2004, Flores made his senior debut for

club

Unión de Santa Fe Club Atlético Unión (; mostly known as Unión de Santa Fe ) is a sports club from Santa Fe, Argentina, Santa Fe, the capital city of the Santa Fe Province, in Argentina. The club was founded on 15 April 1907. Unión is mostly known for its asso ...

as a 67th-minute substitute for Miguel Sebastián Garcia and scored his first goal in the 89th minute of the same match.

Newell's Old Boys

In 2006, Flores was transferred to

Newell's Old Boys Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario, Santa Fe. The club was founded on 3 November 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell of the English county of Kent, one of the pioneers of Argentine football. A ...

but was loaned back to Unión de Santa Fe for a one-year period.

Curicó Unido

After returning to Newell's Old Boys, Flores was finally transferred to the Chilean Primera División club

Curicó Unido Curicó Unido is a football club based in Curicó, Maule Region, Chile. They currently play in the Primera B de Chile, the second level of the Chilean football system. They are currently managed by Héctor Almandoz. History Curicó Unido was f ...

Adelaide United

It was revealed in June 2009, that Australian

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

club

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional men's soccer club located in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club was one of the eight founding members of the A-League Men and have competed in it concurrently since its formation, u ...

had approached Flores for the 2009–10 A-League season, but the negotiations collapsed, citing Flores' desire to remain in South America. On 8 December 2009, Flores signed with Adelaide United and was named as part of the club's squad for the

2010 AFC Champions League The 2010 AFC Champions League was the 29th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 8th under the current AFC Champions League title. The final was held at the National ...

. Flores was officially revealed by the club on 11 January 2010. Flores was then registered as an injury replacement player for fellow import Cristiano and made his debut as a 60th-minute substitute for Adelaide United in their 2–0 win against Brisbane Roar on 6 February 2010. Flores impressed at Adelaide and gained instant legendary status by the Adelaide United fans. Flores provided the team with the

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 ...

position, and showcased skills and technique rarely seen in the A-League. Flores added aggression and stamina to his game since coming to the A-League. Flores scored four A-League goal of the season contenders in the 2010–11 season. Flores' form at Adelaide attracted overseas attention, with

J-League The , commonly a.k.a. shortened to the , and officially known as the for sponsorship with Meiji Yasuda Life, is the men's association football league in Japan. It is responsible for organizing Japan's major professional football tournaments, in ...

club

Urawa Red Diamonds The or simply Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ, ''Urawa Rezzu''), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, are a professional association football, football club in the city of Saitama (city), Saitama, part of t ...

and aspiring

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional 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 sanctioned by the United ...

club

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Indepen ...

. On 21 January 2011, Flores scored his first A-league hat-trick for Adelaide in their record 8–1 win over

North Queensland Fury Northern Fury Football Club was an Australian professional soccer club based in Townsville, Queensland. The club was founded in 2008 and competed in the A-League under the name North Queensland Fury. On 1 March 2011, the club was removed from th ...

. Flores won the Johnny Warren player of the year award for the 2010–11 season. Adelaide offered Flores a three-year deal worth $320,000 a season, which would have made him the highest paid player in the club's history. Marcos Flores

Henan Jianye

Flores announced his transfer to

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

club

Henan Jianye Henan Football Club (), currently known as Henan F.C. Jiuzu Dukang () for sponsorship reasons, is a Chinese professional football club based in Zhengzhou, Henan, that competes in . Henan plays their home matches at the Hanghai Stadium, located wi ...

on 26 June 2011, where he was set to earn $2.4 million over a three-year period. The transfer fee was said to be worth $500,000. Flores made his debut for Henan Jianye as a second-half substitute on 10 July 2011 in an away 0–0 draw against

Changchun Yatai Changchun Yatai Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club based in Changchun, Jilin, that competes in . Changchun Yatai plays its home matches at the Changchun Stadium, located within Nanguan District. The club's founder and main ...

in the Chinese Super League. His contract was terminated by mutual consent at 21 June 2012. Flores stated that he was interested in coming back to Australia, preferably Adelaide United, but a move was halted due to

salary cap In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Seve ...

reasons.

Melbourne Victory

On 4 July 2012, it was announced that Marcos Flores had signed with

club

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory ...

on a two-year deal worth around $1 million. He made his debut in round 1 of the

against cross town rivals

Melbourne Heart Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in the South-Eastern Metropolitan Region, South-Eastern region of Melbourne, Victoria. They compete in the A-League Men, the Australian soccer ...

on 5 October 2012. Flores scored his first ever

goal on 5 November 2012, in a game against

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League Men, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the 2007–08 ...

. Flores was released by Melbourne Victory on 5 July 2013, becoming a free agent.

Central Coast Mariners

Shortly after his release, he was signed by the Central Coast Mariners on a one-year contract. He was seriously injured, suffering an

Anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

tear, and was put out for the rest of the season. On 29 March 2014 the Mariners announced he would not be re-signed for the following season.

Newcastle Jets

On 9 June 2014, it was announced that Flores will play for the Newcastle Jets in the upcoming Hyundai A-League season. Marcos scored his first goal for the Newcastle Jets against the Western Sydney Wanderers in the 27th minute in a 1–1 draw. On 15 January 2015, Flores' contract with the Jets was mutually terminated, to allow Flores to move to an overseas football club.

Jacksonville Armada

After being released by the Newcastle Jets, Flores signed with NASL team

Jacksonville Armada FC Jacksonville Armada FC is an American professional soccer team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They were founded in 2013 as an expansion franchise in the North American Soccer League (NASL), the second tier of American soccer, and played unt ...

. The Armada's General Manager, Dario Sala, flew out to Australia to complete the signing of Flores on 22 January 2015. Flores was released by Jacksonville in November 2015.

Curico Unido

On January 30 Marcos joined Curico Unido unfortunately things didn't work out and he only made a few starts and a few off the bench. He also sat on the bench and wasn't in the squad for most of the season. On the 2nd of August Marcos got released.

Persib Bandung

On August 30, 2016, Marcos signed a 4-months deal with

Indonesia Soccer Championship A Indonesia Soccer Championship A, also known as Torabika Soccer Championship presented by IM3 Ooredoo for sponsorship reasons, was a football competition that replaced the temporarily-suspended Indonesia Super League. This football competition w ...

side

Persib Bandung Persatuan Sepakbola Indonesia Bandung (), also known in acronym as Persib (), is an Indonesian professional football club based in Bandung, West Java. The club competes in the Liga 1, the top tier of Indonesian football. Founded in 1919 as ...

. He eventually got his debut on September 18 in an away match against

Bali United Bali United Football Club (; , ''æklub’ sépak bola Bali United'') is a professional football club based in Gianyar, Bali, Indonesia. The club competes in the Liga 1, the top tier of Indonesian football. Bali United emerged in 2015 as the ...

Adelaide City

On 17 January 2019, Flores signed a 2-year deal with

National Premier League The Jamaica Premier League (formerly the National Premier League), commonly abbreviated as JPL and officially known as the Wray and Nephew Jamaica Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is sanctioned by the Jamaican Football Federation as the ...

side

. On 15 May 2020, Flores announced his retirement from football.

Career statistics

¹ – includes

Chilean Primera División The Chilean Primera División () is a professional association football league in Chile and the highest level of the Chilean football league system. Founded in 1933, it is organized by the Asociación Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (ANFP). The l ...

play-offs

Honours

Individual *

Johnny Warren Medal The Johnny Warren Medal is awarded to the best player of the Australian national soccer club competition. It was first awarded in the National Soccer League in 1990, and upon the NSL's demise in November 2004, was carried forward into the new na ...

2010–11 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 ...

Foreign Player of the Year:

Player's Player of the Year:

Goal 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

Central Coast Mariners profile
*
Ultimate A-League profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flores, Marcos 1985 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Argentine men's footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Argentine Primera División players A-League Men players Chilean Primera División players Chinese Super League players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players Liga 1 (Indonesia) players Footballers from Reconquista, Santa Fe Newell's Old Boys footballers Unión de Santa Fe footballers Curicó Unido footballers Adelaide United FC players Henan F.C. players Melbourne Victory FC players Central Coast Mariners FC players Newcastle Jets FC players Jacksonville Armada FC players Persib Bandung players Bali United F.C. players Adelaide City FC players Expatriate men's footballers in Chile Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia Expatriate men's footballers in China Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Indonesia Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Chile Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Australia Argentine expatriate sportspeople in China Argentine expatriate sportspeople in the United States Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Indonesia Marquee players (A-League Men) 21st-century Argentine sportsmen