Marcos Magno Morales Tavares (born 30 March 1984) 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 striker. Tavares spent 15 seasons with Slovenian team

Maribor Maribor ( , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is the seat of the ...

, and is the club's all-time most capped player and top goalscorer. He is also the all-time top goalscorer of Slovenian top division with 159 goals. At international level, Tavares was part of the Brazilian youth national teams from under-17 to under-20.

Early life

Tavares was born in

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, ; , ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian Federative units of Brazil, state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of roughly 1.4 million inhabitants (2022) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, 11th-most p ...

and spent his childhood in the city's

slums A slum is a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily in ...

with his father, a worker at

Internacional Sport Club Internacional (), commonly known as Internacional, Inter de Porto Alegre, a cidade do Grêmio or simply Inter, is a Brazilian professional football club based in Porto Alegre. They play in the Série A, the first division of the ...

, and his mother, a teacher. He is the youngest of three children and throughout his youth the family was living in poverty, sharing a one bedroom home where all five family members were sleeping in the same room and on the floor. Tavares claims he started playing football to help his family, and after spending a few years at Internacional youth selections, he was noticed by their city rivals Grêmio at the age of 13 and accepted their financial offer to switch clubs as he wanted to provide the financial means for his father to build a bigger home. However, Internacional and Grêmio are fierce city rivals who contest the

Grenal The Grenal (also Gre-Nal, plural Grenais), ongoing since 1909, is the rivalry between the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre's biggest football clubs, Grêmio and Internacional, usually contested in the '' Gauchão'', the Rio Grande do Sul state ...

derby and his father soon enough found himself unemployed.

Club career

Early career

Tavares has maintained that he was unable to manage the conflict between professional and personal life during his teenage years, and that his excessive partying, drinking and overall lack of discipline contributed to his failure to succeed in Brazil. At the age of 19 he went to Malaysia in desire for quick implementation. In the 2004 season, he played for

Kedah Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman (Islam), Aman (دار الأمان; Arabic for 'The Safe Abode') and historically as Queda, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of ...

in the

Malaysian Super League The Malaysia Super League (), known simply as the Super League (), is the men's top professional football division of the Malaysian football league system. Administered by the Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnership (FMLLP), now known ...

, where he scored eleven league goals. When the season ended, Tavares returned to Brazil, where he signed a two-year contract with

Atlético Paranaense Club Athletico Paranaense (abbreviated CAP, commonly known as Athletico Paranaense and up to 2019 known as Atlético Paranaense) is a Brazilian football team from the city of Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná, founded o ...

in February 2005. However, he featured in only two games, both in

Campeonato Paranaense The Campeonato Paranaense is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Paraná. It is run by the Paraná Football Federation (FPF). List of champions Notes * In 1924 Internacional and América merged in ...

, before being released by the club in May 2005. After that, he once again continued his career in Kedah, where he was the team's top goalscorer in the

2005–06 Malaysia Premier League The 2005–06 Liga Premier (), also known as the TM Liga Premier due to sponsorship reasons, was the third season of the Liga Premier, the second-tier professional football league in Malaysia. The season began on 4 December 2005 and concluded on 2 ...

with twelve goals. After one season with Kedah, he was noticed by

Roberto de Assis Moreira Roberto de Assis Moreira (born 10 January 1971), commonly known as Assis, is a Brazilian former footballer who is also the brother, manager, agent and adviser of footballer Ronaldinho. He is also the owner of Porto Alegre Futebol Clube. Biogr ...

, who took him to

. In 2007, Tavares moved to Europe as he signed for Cypriot side

APOEL APOEL FC (; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") is a Cypriot professio ...

. He scored four goals in the

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup, formally known as the Cypriot Coca-Cola Cup of First and Second Division () for sponsorship purposes, is a Cypriot knockout football club competition, hosted annually by the Cyprus Football Association. First held in 1934, it i ...

, but in the

Cypriot League The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

he played only five matches without scoring any goals. Because he didn't perform as the club expected, Tavares was released from APOEL in January 2008.

Maribor

While playing for APOEL, Tavares met Nilton Fernandes, who introduced him to

Zlatko Zahovič Zlatko Zahovič (; born 1 February 1971) is a Slovenian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. After making a name for himself in Portugal, most notably with Porto and Benfica where he amassed Primeira Liga totals ...

, the director of football at the Slovenian team

. Tavares joined the team at their winter training camp in Croatia, and debuted in a

friendly game An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Šibenik Šibenik (), historically known as Sebenico (), is a historic town in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka (Croatia), Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is one of the oldest Croatia, Croatian self-governing cities ...

. He signed a contract with Maribor on 29 January 2008. Tavares made his official competitive debut on 1 March 2008 against

Koper Koper (; ) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, fifth-largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Slovenian Istria, Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, Koper is the main urban center of the Slovene coast. Port of Koper i ...

in the 21st round of the

2007–08 Slovenian PrvaLiga The 2007–08 Slovenian PrvaLiga season started on 20 July 2007 and ended on 31 May 2008. Each team played a total of 36 matches. Clubs League table Relegation play-offs Drava Ptuj won 2–1 on aggregate. Results Every team plays four ...

season. Tavares soon established himself in the team and among the fans. In the next season, he won the Slovenian championship with Maribor, the club's first title in six years. He was the league's second best goalscorer with 15 goals, and was voted the best player of the season. Tavares also received the Guest Star 2008 award, which is awarded to the best foreign sportsperson in Slovenia. In the 2009–10 season, he scored 10 goals in 34 league matches. In addition, he scored five goals in five cup matches, helping Maribor to win the 2009–10 Slovenian Cup. In October 2009, Tavares became the team captain after

Zoran Pavlović Zoran Pavlović (born 27 June 1976) is a former Slovenian footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Although he was born in Tuzla, Pavlović's family moved to Velenje when he was young. He started his career at Rudar Velenje, making h ...

left the club. In September 2010, he signed a new contract with Maribor until 2013. In the

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 ...

season, he won the league title with Maribor and was crowned as the best league goalscorer with 16 goals. In addition, he was the club's best assist provider with 15 assists. For his performances during the course of the season, he was voted as the most valuable player by the Slovenian PrvaLiga players. He was also selected as the most distinguished player of the season by the fans of Maribor. In July 2012, Tavares scored his tenth goal for Maribor in

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

competitions in a match against Željezničar Sarajevo, becoming the club's all-time top scorer in UEFA competitions. The next month, he signed a new five-year contract with Maribor. In December 2012, Tavares was again selected as the most distinguished player of the previous season by the fans of Maribor, winning his second "Purple Warrior" trophy. He was officially announced as the winner during the half-time of the

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 ...

game against

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

on 6 December, where he later scored his 14th goal in European competitions. In May 2013, he was voted, alongside Nikola Nikezić and

Enis Đurković Enis Đurković (born 24 May 1989) is a Slovenian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Austrian side SC Reichenau/Falkert. Club career Đurković started his career with Zarica Kranj from his hometown. As a youngster he moved to ...

, as the best striker of the

2012–13 Slovenian PrvaLiga The 2012–13 Slovenian PrvaLiga was the 22nd edition of the Slovenian PrvaLiga since its establishment in 1991. Also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, PrvaLiga was contested by the top ten clubs in Slovenia, for the title of national champions. T ...

season. He scored 17 goals in the 2012–13 PrvaLiga season, becoming the league top goalscorer for the second time in three years. On 31 July 2013, Tavares scored against his former team, APOEL, in the

2013–14 UEFA Champions League The 2013–14 UEFA Champions League was the 59th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 22nd season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final was ...

third qualifying round. On 26 April 2014, Tavares scored his 117th goal for Maribor in a league match against Koper, tying with Branko Horjak as the club's all-time top goalscorer. On 7 May 2014 he became the sole record holder when he scored two second-half goals in a 4–0 away win against Krka. On 26 August 2014, he scored the only goal of the match in a 1–0 win over

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

play-off round The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, helping Maribor to qualify for the group stage of the competition for the first time since 1999. On 22 April 2017, Tavares set a record for the fastest goal scored in the Slovenian top division as he scored after eight seconds in a match against

Domžale Domžale (; )''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 24. is a town and the seat of the Municipality of Domžale in Slovenia. The town lies ne ...

. On 16 August 2017, Tavares scored in a 2–1 defeat against Hapoel Be'er-Sheva in the Champions League

, which was the crucial

away goal Away may refer to: Film and television *Away (2016 film), ''Away'' (2016 film), a British film directed by David Blair *Away (2019 film), ''Away'' (2019 film), a Latvian animated silent film by Gints Zilbalodis * Away (2025 film), a drama film by ...

as Maribor won the second leg 1–0 and qualified for the group stages. On 25 November 2017, Tavares scored his 130th goal in the Slovenian top division, tying himself with

Štefan Škaper Štefan Škaper (born 6 October 1966) is a Slovenian retired footballer who played as a forward. Career Škaper played for Beltinci between 1990 and 1996 and for Mura between 1996 and 2000. He was the Slovenian PrvaLiga top goalscorer for two ...

as the all-time top goalscorer in the Slovenian PrvaLiga. On 2 December 2017, he became the sole record holder after scoring the winning goal against Gorica in a 2–1 victory. A few days later, on 6 December 2017, Tavares scored his first goal in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League in a 1–1 home draw against

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

. On 25 August 2019, he scored his 200th goal for Maribor in all competitions during a league game against

Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels * Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 * Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing compa ...

. In May 2022, Tavares retired from professional football after spending 15 seasons with Maribor. In his last home game against

Aluminij Aluminij was a Bosnian aluminium manufacturing company with headquarters in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It operated from 1975 until 2020, when it was leased to the Israeli M.T. Abraham Group and since then has been operating as its subsidi ...

on 14 May 2022, he played together with his son, Marcos Tavares Jr. (born 2004), who made his senior debut in the last minutes of the game, thus fulfilling Tavares's longstanding wish to play one match with his son. Before the match, the club retired his number 9 jersey, and also renamed the West Stand of

Ljudski vrt Ljudski vrt () is a football stadium in Maribor, the second-largest city of Slovenia. The stadium has a seating capacity of 11,709. It has been the home of NK Maribor since their formation in 1960, with the exception of a short period in early ...

to Marcos Tavares Stand in his honour.

Personal life

Tavares met his wife Leticia at the age of 17. The pair has four children together. He is

multilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

, speaking three languages; Portuguese, Slovene and English. In

, he and his wife founded a humanitarian and religious society Kairos which is responsible for helping the people in need. He is also a minister. Tavares gained Slovenian citizenship on 16 September 2013 after residing in the country for more than five years.

Career statistics

Honours

Kedah *

Malaysia Premier League The Malaysia Premier League () was the second-tier professional football league in Malaysia. It replaced the Liga Perdana 2 in the Malaysian football league system. The Malaysia Premier League was contested by 12 clubs. The season usually ra ...

: 2005–06 Maribor *

Slovenian PrvaLiga The Slovenian PrvaLiga (, ), currently named Prva liga Telemach due to sponsorship reasons, also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the top level of the Slovenian football league system. Contested by ten clubs, it operates on a system of prom ...

: 2008–09,

, 2011–12,

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 ...

, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2016–17, 2018–19, 2021–22 *

Slovenian Cup Slovene or Slovenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Slovenia, a country in Central Europe * Slovene language, a South Slavic language mainly spoken in Slovenia * Slovenes, an ethno-linguistic group mainly living in Slovenia * Sl ...

: 2009–10, 2011–12,

, 2015–16 *

Slovenian Supercup The Slovenian Supercup () was a football match played between the Slovenian PrvaLiga champions and the Slovenian Cup winners. Prior 2007, the match was held only twice, in 1995 and 1996. The competition was resurrected in 2007 and was held annual ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Brazil U17 *

South American U-17 Championship The South American U-17 Championship (; ), branded as CONMEBOL Sub 17, is a association football, football competition held every two years for South American under-17 teams. The tournament was born in 1985 out of a need for a classification tourna ...

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 ...

Individual *Slovenian PrvaLiga top scorer:

, 2014–15 * Slovenian PrvaLiga Player of the Year: 2008–09,

*Slovenian PrvaLiga best XI: 2008–09,

, 2014–15, 2017–18 * Maribor Player of the Year: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017

References

External links

Official website

Marcos Tavares
at NZS * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tavares, Marcos 1984 births Living people Footballers from Porto Alegre Men's association football forwards Brazilian men's footballers Brazil men's youth international footballers Brazil men's under-20 international footballers Grêmio FBPA players Kedah Darul Aman F.C. players Club Athletico Paranaense players Porto Alegre Futebol Clube players APOEL FC players NK Maribor players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Malaysia Super League players Malaysia Premier League players Cypriot First Division players Slovenian PrvaLiga players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Malaysia Expatriate men's footballers in Malaysia Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Expatriate men's footballers in Slovenia 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen