Marcelo Moretto

Marcelo Moretto

Personal information
Full name	Marcelo Moretto de Souza
Date of birth	10 May 1978 (1978-05-10) (age 33)
Place of birth	Eldorado, Brazil
Height	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Avaí
Number	31
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1998	São José	0	(0)
1998–2003	Portuguesa	13	(0)
1999	→ Londrina (loan)	0	(0)
2001	→ Sport Recife (loan)	6	(0)
2002	→ Brasiliense (loan)	0	(0)
2004	15 Novembro
2004	Felgueiras	8	(0)
2005	Vitória Setúbal	23	(0)
2006–2009	Benfica	18	(0)
2007–2008	→ AEK Athens (loan)	15	(0)
2010	Brasiliense
2010	Olhanense	13	(0)
2011	Arka Gdynia	14	(0)
2011–	Avaí	0	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 May 2011. † Appearances (Goals).

Marcelo Moretto de Souza, known as Moretto (born 10 May 1978 in Eldorado, Mato Grosso do Sul) is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Avaí Futebol Clube as a goalkeeper.

Club career

Early years

Moretto played four years professionally in his homecountry, representing São José Esporte Clube, Associação Portuguesa de Desportos, Londrina Esporte Clube, Sport Club do Recife, Brasiliense Futebol Clube and Clube 15 de Novembro.

In 2003, aged 25, Moretto decided to try his luck in Portugal, joining S.C. Salgueiros, at the time playing in the second division, and made a very good first impression during the team's pre-season matches. However, facing serious economical crisis, Salgueiros was relegated to the third division (north zone) and lost all of its professional players.

Forced to look for another club, Moretto joined F.C. Felgueiras (also in the second division). There, he played eight matches, conceding a total of 10 goals. Nevertheless, Moretto caught the attention of other Portuguese clubs.

In January 2005, the keeper came close playing for G.D. Estoril Praia and F.C. Penafiel (both first divisioners at the time), but ended up in Vitória de Setúbal (also in the topflight) to replace Ricardo Batista (who had signed for Premier League team Fulham) after signing a two-and-a-half year contract. At Setúbal Moretto met success for the first time. He soon became the coach's first option while the team performed above all expectations, winning the country's second most important trophy, the Portuguese Cup, after beating giants S.L. Benfica in the final.^[1]

In 2005–06, Moretto started off the season in Setúbal. The team performed well during the first half, with Moretto playing 17 matches and suffering only five goals. After enjoying a remarkable success, Vitória was struck by the resignation of their coach, Luis Norton de Matos, and a few other players due to unpaid wages. The year 2005 ended with Moretto being the number one goalkeeper of all European leagues, with the less number of goals conceded per minute played.

Benfica

During the 2005 Christmas and New Year break in Portugal, a lot was spoken in the press about Moretto's possible transfer to Benfica or F.C. Porto. In a controversial move, Moretto followed his will and picked Benfica to be his new club after explaining the allegedly «bad behaviour» of both the player's manager and Porto chairmen. Porto officially denied immediate interest in the player. The transfer cost Benfica €1 million and Moretto signed for five-and-a-half years.^[2]

Benfica's interest gained strength as José Moreira suffered an injury that would keep him off the pitch for the remainder of the season. Quim, the team's other goalkeeper also suffered an injury, leaving the team with only the junior unexperienced Rui Nereu to play both the domestic league and the UEFA Champions League. Upon his arrival, he immediately became Ronald Koeman's number one choice between the posts, even with Quim fully recovered.

Throughout the rest of the campaign, Moretto played on 18 occasions in the league, once in the cup and four times in the Champions League, against reigning champions Liverpool (conceding no goals) and FC Barcelona, where he stopped Ronaldinho's penalty and Samuel Eto'o shots.^[3]

The Brazilian did not have an easy time after joining Benfica because, alternating above-average performances with subpar ones, he suffered from the irrational animosity of the club supporters, which greatly undermined his concentration. As a result, upon the departure of Koeman and arrival of his replacement, Fernando Santos, Moretto was relegated to the role of substitute goalkeeper, with Quim again taking over the nets. During the season he played only one match, often splitting the subs bench with Moreira.

On 13 July 2007, Moretto agreed to join AEK Athens FC on a loan deal.^[4] The Greek team had the option to purchase the player at the end of the loan period, which was not activated, and he returned to Benfica for 2008–09.

Late career

On 3 August 2009, Benfica released Moretto from his contract, with the player planning to return to his country.^[5] Late in the year, he signed with a team he had already represented, Brasiliense – second division.

In July 2010, however, Moretto returned to Portugal, signing with lowly first-divisioner S.C. Olhanense. In the following transfer window, he changed teams - and countries - again, joining Arka Gdynia in Poland.^[6]

Honours

• Benfica:
  • Portuguese Cup: 2004–05
  • Portuguese League Cup: 2008–09

Club statistics

Club	Season	League		Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
		(Apps) + Minutes Played	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Portuguesa	1998	* . * mins	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
São José	1998	* . * mins	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Portuguesa	1999	* . * mins	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Londrina	1999	* . * mins	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Portuguesa	2000	10 . * mins	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	10	*
Sport Recife	2001	6 . * mins	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	6	*
Portuguesa	2002	3 . * mins	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	3	*
Brasiliense	2002	* . * mins	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Portuguesa	2003	* . * mins	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
XV de Novembro	2004	* . * mins	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Total (Brasil)		19 . * mins	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	19	*
Felgueiras	2004–05	8 . 675 mins	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	8	*
Vitória Setúbal	2004–05	8 . 720 mins	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	8	*
	2005–06	15 . 1350 mins	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	15	*
Benfica	2005–06	18 . 1620 mins	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	18	*
	2006–07	1 . 90 mins	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	1	*
Total (Portugal)		50 . 4455 mins	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	24	*
AEK	2007–08	14 . 1350 mins	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	14	*
Total (Greece)		14 . 1350 mins	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	14	*
Benfica	2008–09	0 . 0 mins	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	0	*
Total (Portugal)		0 . 0 mins	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	0	*
Career total		83 . 5805 mins	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	83	*

* – Not available

References

1. ^ Meyong magic seals Setúbal joy; UEFA.com, 29 May 2005
2. ^ Benfica build for title surge; UEFA.com, 2 January 2006
3. ^ Barça denied by Moretto magic
4. ^ Moretto in AEK loan move; UEFA.com, 13 July 2007
5. ^ Benfica libera Marcelo Moretto para voltar ao futebol brasileiro (Benfica releases Marcello Moretto so he can return to Brazilian football); Futebol na Rede (Portuguese)
6. ^ Marcelo Moretto w Arce Gdynia (Marcelo Moretto to Arka Gdynia): Sport.onet, 17 February 2011 (Polish)

External links

• Stats and profile at Zerozero
• Stats at ForaDeJogo (Portuguese)
• Marcelo Moretto at 90minut.pl (Polish)

Persondata
Name	Moretto, Marcelo
Alternative names
Short description	Brazilian footballer
Date of birth	10 May 1978
Place of birth	Eldorado, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil
Date of death
Place of death