Marcelinho Paraíba

For other people, See Marcelinho (disambiguation).

Marcelinho Paraíba

Personal information
Full name	Marcelo dos Santos
Date of birth	May 17, 1975 (1975-05-17) (age 36)
Place of birth	Campina Grande, Brazil
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Attacking Midfielder Winger Second striker
Club information
Current club	Sport
Number	10
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1991–1993	Campinense	0	(0)
1994	Paraguaçuense	0	(0)
1994–1995	Santos	7	(0)
1995–1996	Rio Branco	42	(7)
1997–2000	São Paulo	60	(15)
2000–2001	Marseille	19	(3)
2001	Grêmio	0	(0)
2001–2006	Hertha BSC	155	(65)
2006–2007	Trabzonspor	17	(2)
2007–2008	VfL Wolfsburg	50	(12)
2008–2009	Flamengo	19	(8)
2009	Coritiba	34	(14)
2010–2011	São Paulo	8	(1)
2010	→ Sport (loan)	23	(6)
2011–	Sport	0	(0)
National team
2001	Brazil	5	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 3 June 2011. † Appearances (Goals).

Marcelo dos Santos (born 17 May 1975 in Campina Grande, Brazil), better known as "Marcelinho Paraíba" or simply "Marcelinho", is a Brazilian footballer currently playing for Sport Recife, in the Brazilian Série B.

In Brazil, he is also known as "Marcelinho Paraíba", referring to the state in which he was born.

He was arguably one of the best playmakers in the Bundesliga because of his extravagant skills that include his visionary passing, abundance of tricks and his world class technique.

Career

Marcelinho Paraiba began his career in Campinense, Paraíba, where he won two league titles Paraiba.

Between 1994 and 1995, was in Santos when he took a pass unnoticed by the club.

Two years later, however, burst in São Paulo, where he won two Paulistões before being sold to Olympique Marseille, France.

It was only a year in France and in 2001 he played for Gremio when he began to experience the pinnacle of his career. At that time, Marcelinho Paraiba was called "Marcelinho Paraúcho" by gremistas, because during its passage through the team, becoming an idol. Champion and top scorer of the Campeonato Gaúcho after Cup champion Brazil, where he scored a goal in the second game in the final against Corinthians, did not play that year because the Brasileirão, before the tournament, Marcelinho Paraiba ended up getting a five-year contract with Hertha Berlin, Germany.

Since the Bundesliga 2001–02 season, Marcelinho had played for Hertha BSC. 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 playmaker and leader while performing in both the midfield and forward area. In addition, he carried the responsibility of executing the free kicks, corner kicks, and penalty kicks 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, 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 BSC association management. After Marcelinho had expressed himself, in the following the days, contradictory statements as to whether he wanted to remain at Hertha BSC or not, he ended his term with Hertha BSC with the conclusion of a three-year contract with Turkish club Trabzonspor for approximately 2.5 million euros. In August 2008, Marcelinho Paraíba returned to Brazil to play for Flamengo.^[1] On 6 March 2009 Coritiba Foot Ball Club have signed the forward on a free transfer until the end of the year, Marcelinho recently terminated his contract with Flamengo.^[2] After the relegation of his club Coritiba Foot Ball Club signed on 18 December 2009 for São Paulo FC.^[3] On 9 August 2010 he was loaned to Sport till the end of the 2010 season^[4] and his contract was extended to the end of the 2011 season.

Career statistics

(Correct as of^[update] 8 December 2009)

Club	Season	Carioca League			Brazilian Série A			Total
		Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists
Flamengo	2008	-	-	-	19	8	4	19	8	4
	2009	6	2	1	-	-	-	6	2	1
Total		6	2	1	19	8	4	25	10	5

according to combined sources on the Flamengo official website.^[5]

Honours

• Campinense
  • Paraíba State Championship: 1991, 1993
• São Paulo
  • São Paulo State Championship: 1998, 2000
• Grêmio
  • Rio Grande do Sul State Championship: 2001
  • Brazilian Cup: 2001
• Hertha BSC
  • DFB-Ligapokal: 2002

References

1. ^ "Flamengo acerta com meia Marcelinho Paraíba" (in Portuguese). Terra Esportes. 10 August 2008. http://esportes.terra.com.br/futebol/brasileiro/2008/interna/0,,OI3074725-EI11421,00-Flamengo+acerta+com+meia+Marcelinho+Paraiba.html. Retrieved 10 August 2008. 
2. ^ "Coxa e Marcelinho perto de acerto" (in Portuguese). coritiba.com.br. 6 March 2009. http://www.coritiba.com.br/site/index.php?pag=noticias&n_cod=7263&n_titulo=Coxa-e-Marcelinho-perto-de-acerto. Retrieved 2 October 2010. 
3. ^ "Marcelinho zu São Paulo" (in German). transfermarkt.de. 18 December 2009. http://www.transfermarkt.de/de/news/33935/marcelinho-zu-sao-paulo.html. Retrieved 2 October 2010. 
4. ^ "Marcelinho Paraíba deixa o São Paulo e acerta para reforçar o Sport" (in Portuguese). Esporte. 9 August 2010. http://esporte.uol.com.br/futebol/ultimas-noticias/2010/08/09/marcelinho-paraiba-deixa-o-sao-paulo-e-acerta-para-reforcar-o-sport.jhtm. Retrieved 2 October 2010. 
5. ^ "Flamengo official website" (in Portuguese). http://www.flamengo.com.br. 

External links

• Marcelinho at fussballdaten.de (German)
• Marcelinho at Flamengo.com.br (Portuguese)

Persondata
Name	Marcelinho
Alternative names	Marcelinho Paraíba, Marcelo dos Santos
Short description	Footballer
Date of birth	17 May 1975
Place of birth	Campina Grande, Brazil
Date of death
Place of death