Marcelo Pereira Surcin (born 1 February 1971), known as Marcelinho Carioca, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. A technically gifted and prolific goalscoring midfielder, he was known for his vision, passing range, accurate crossing, long-range shooting and ability to find space in attacking positions. He was also noted for his confidence, leadership and capacity to influence decisive moments in matches.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest free-kick takers of all time, Marcelinho was nicknamed Pé de Anjo ("Angel's Foot") for the accuracy and variety of his set-piece deliveries.
Marcelinho had four separate spells at Corinthians, scoring 206 goals in 420 matches for the Timão from 1994 to 2001 and winning eight trophies, including two consecutive national titles and the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup in 2000, but never succeeded internationally due to his difficult character and falling-outs with national team coaches.
Club career Corinthians After winning 1990 Brazilian Cup, 1991 Rio de Janeiro State Championship and 1992 Brazilian National Championship as a Flamengo player, Marcelinho Carioca signed his first contract with Corinthians—who bought him from Flamengo for in December 1993. In mid-1997, after winning the Brazilian Cup (Copa do Brasil) and the São Paulo State Championship (Campeonato Paulista), he was sold to Valencia (ESP) for US$7,000,000 where he would become a teammate of Romário. With the Mestalla side he would play 11 games, of which five would be on La Liga, and scored one single goal, against Hércules in the Copa Generalitat.
After this spell, unsuccessfully came back to Corinthians in the end of the year. Back to "Parque São Jorge" he was two times champion of the national championship (Campeonato Brasileiro, 98 and 99), one time state champion (2001), and raised the trophy of the first FIFA world club championship in 2000.
The second time he left the team seemed to be for good. After a few conflicts with teammates in mid-2001, he was accused of denigrating the clubs image, and left the squad. After training alone for some time in the club, he won in justice the opportunity to play for Santos FC, where he stayed for six months. In a legal dispute (for the 2001 incident), Corinthians won in first instance, obliging the player to pay R$9.000.000.
In February 2006, as part of a deal, he signed his third contract with Corinthians but only six months later, as of the arrival and request of manager Émerson Leão, Marcelinho Carioca was released. He was signed by Santo André the following year, where he stayed until 2009 winning promotion to Brazilian First Division in 2008 but being relegated the following year. He played a farewell match for Corinthians early in 2010 in a friendly against Huracán.
In 2012, he played four games for the Corinthians beach soccer team.
International career Marcelinho made four appearances and scored two goals for the Brazil national football team between 1994 and 2002. He made his senior debut in a friendly victory over Yugoslavia in December 1994, while his final appearance came against Peru during the 2002 World Cup qualifiers.
Career statistics
Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueState leagueCupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsFlamengo1988Série A50––––50198981–40–701911990909351–1223561991173185–952757118199251173––142366199319515550822967618Total63105916141177891524249Corinthians1994Série A25826124244756631199516532148641–60261996121221941104–48251997–211121–202512Total53141015618101899519994Valencia1997–98La Liga50–10––60Corinthians1998Série A28191333342415228199926151685216462693120001541513–1544049212001Série A–181196–403117Total693862351711351018320197Santos2001Série A155––––155Gamba Osaka2002J. League Division 1213–––64277Vasco da Gama2003Série A18913750––3616Al-Nassr2003–04Saudi Premier League126––––126Vasco da Gama2004Série A102121––52Ajaccio2004–05Ligue 1102––––102Brasiliense2005Série A269––––269Corinthians2006Série A50––––50Santo André2007Série B80––––802008318133–––44112009Série A325131–––456Total7113264–––9717Career total3691092631195723702612227881304
International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsBrazil199410199822200110Total42
Honours Flamengo Série A: 1992 Copa do Brasil: 1990 Campeonato Carioca: 1991
Corinthians Série A: 1998, 1999 Copa do Brasil: 1995 Campeonato Paulista: 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001 Copa Bandeirantes: 1994 Troféu Ramón de Carranza: 1996 FIFA Club World Cup: 2000
Vasco da Gama Campeonato Carioca: 2003
Brasiliense Campeonato Brasiliense: 2005
Santo André Campeonato Paulista Serie A2: 2008
Individual Bola de Ouro: 1999 Bola de Prata: 1994, 1999, 2003Bola de Prata – Histórico, ESPN, 29 June 2017 South American Team of the Year: 1998 All-time official free-kick top goalscorer in football history: 78 goals
References
External links