Marcelo Martins Moreno
Marcelo Martins Moreno (born 18 June 1987), known as Marcelo Martins in Bolivia and as Marcelo Moreno in other countries, is a Bolivian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Cruzeiro and the Bolivia national football team. He is considered one of the greatest Bolivian strikers of all time. With 21 goals, he is the national team's all-time top goalcorer.
![]() Moreno playing for Flamengo in 2013 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Marcelo Martins Moreno | ||
Date of birth | 18 June 1987 | ||
Place of birth | Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia | ||
Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
Position(s) | Striker | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | Cruzeiro | ||
Number | 9 | ||
Youth career | |||
2003–2004 | Oriente Petrolero | ||
2004–2005 | Vitória | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2005–2007 | Vitória | 30 | (12) |
2007–2008 | Cruzeiro | 14 | (7) |
2008–2011 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 32 | (7) |
2009 | → Werder Bremen (loan) | 5 | (0) |
2010 | → Wigan Athletic (loan) | 12 | (0) |
2012–2015 | Grêmio | 28 | (10) |
2013–2014 | → Flamengo (loan) | 16 | (2) |
2014–2015 | → Cruzeiro (loan) | 32 | (15) |
2015–2016 | Changchun Yatai | 53 | (22) |
2017–2018 | Wuhan Zall | 34 | (25) |
2019 | Shijiazhuang Ever Bright | 12 | (7) |
2020– | Cruzeiro | 16 | (3) |
National team‡ | |||
2005 | Brazil U18 | ||
2007– | Bolivia | 79 | (21) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12 November 2020 ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17 November 2020 |
Club career
Martins was born in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. He began his career at Vitória, becoming first choice in 2006, at the Campeonato Brasileiro Série C. He scored 12 goals in the competition, four less than the top goalscorer. In the middle of 2007, he moved to Cruzeiro, becoming first choice only in the next year, when he scored 8 goals at the 2008 Copa Libertadores, being the top goalscorer, alongside Salvador Cabañas.
On 27 May 2008, he signed a five-year contract with Shakhtar Donetsk. The Ukrainian club agreed to pay €9 million for the player.[1] On 1 November, he scored a brace in a 3-1 league match win against Zorya Luhansk. Even though he had won the 2008-09 UEFA Cup, on 29 May 2009, unable to establish himself in Donetsk, Martins joined German club Werder Bremen on loan.[2] Bremen had initially attempted to sign Martins the previous summer, but the player opted for Shakhtar. On 2 August 2009, he scored a double in a 2009–10 DFB-Pokal match that ended in a 5-0 victory against Union Berlin. On 29 January 2010, Bremen terminated his contract and he returned to Shakhtar Donetsk.[3] On transfer deadline day, a six-month loan deal between Shakhtar and Wigan Athletic was agreed to take the player to the Premier League. He signed for them on 1 February on loan.[4][5] After returning to Shakhtar, he made a decent impression, scoring 7 times in 23 appearances. However, after being listed as a reserve the next season, Martins joined Grêmio in late December 2011 and signed a five-year contract with the Brazilian team starting in 2012.[6][7] He was then loaned to Flamengo in the 2013 season[8] and Cruzeiro in 2014.[9]
In February 2015, Martins transferred to Chinese Super League side Changchun Yatai. His first season in China was successful, scoring 20+ goals in 53 games.[10] In 2017 he signed for Wuhan Zall in the Chinese League One being the joint top scorer in his first season with 23 league goals, along with Colombian Harold Preciado. In 2019 Martins signed with Shijiazhuang Ever Bright. Although he only played 12 games with them, he scored 7 goals.
On 19 February 2020, Martins returned for his former club, Cruzeiro, signing with them for 3 seasons.[11]
International career
Born in Bolivia to a Brazilian father (Mauro Martins, former footballer) and Bolivian mother, Marcelo Martins has played for the Brazilian U-18 and U-20 sides at the youth level, becoming the first foreign player to be part of it and the fifth foreign player to wear the Brazilian National Team's shirt in an official match, but chose to play for the Bolivian senior national team as a professional.[12]
Due to his success playing for Cruzeiro, he received his first call-up for a friendly match against Peru on 12 September 2007. Martins scored his first two international goals on 20 November 2007, during a 2010 World Cup qualifier against Venezuela. On 14 October 2008, he scored both opening goals against Uruguay in a 2–2 draw. He also opened the scoring in Bolivia's historic 6–1 victory over Diego Maradona's Argentina on 1 April 2009. A few months later, in October, he scored the winning goal in a 2–1 victory against powerhouse Brazil at Estadio Hernando Siles.[13]
Martins was included in the Bolivia squad for the 2015 Copa América in Chile. On 15 June, he scored the decisive goal in the team's second group match – a 3–2 defeat of Ecuador – to give El Verde its first win at the Copa América since the 1997 tournament.[14] He was Bolivia's top scorer at the tournament with two goals, and also being the only one to score on the knockout stages as Bolivia lost to Peru 1-3 in the quarter-finals. He announced his retirement from the national squad on 15 September 2015 together with Ronald Raldes, then captain, claiming divergences with head coach Julio César Baldivieso.[15]
He returned to the national squad in 2016 after Guillermo Ángel Hoyos replaced Baldivieso.[16]
On 12 November 2020, Martins scored his 20th international goal in a 3–2 defeat to Ecuador, equaling Joaquín Botero's all-time top goalscoring record for Bolivia.[17]
Career statistics
Club
- As of 1 July 2018
Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Vitória | 2005 | – | |||||||||
2006 | 30 | 12 | – | 30 | 12 | ||||||
2007 | – | ||||||||||
Cruzeiro | 2007 | 13 | 6 | – | 1 | 0 | – | 14 | 6 | ||
2008 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 8 | – | 19 | 15 | ||
Shakhtar | 2008–09 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | – | 21 | 3 | |
2010–11 | 18 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | – | 23 | 7 | ||
2011–12 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | 2 | 1 | ||
Werder Bremen (loan) | 2009–10 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | – | 13 | 3 | |
Wigan Athletic (loan) | 2009–10 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 12 | 0 | |||
Grêmio | 2012 | 28 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 16 | 9 | 57 | 23 |
2013 | – | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||||
Flamengo | 2013 | 16 | 2 | 4 | 2 | – | 20 | 4 | |||
Cruzeiro | 2014 | 32 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 50 | 23 |
Changchun Yatai | 2015 | 24 | 9 | 0 | 0 | – | 24 | 9 | |||
2016 | 29 | 13 | 0 | 0 | – | 29 | 13 | ||||
Wuhan Zall | 2017 | 29 | 23 | 0 | 0 | – | 29 | 23 | |||
2018 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | 5 | 2 | ||||
Career total | 230 | 91 | 33 | 21 | 37 | 10 | 27 | 13 | 327 | 135 |
International
As of 17 November 2020.[18]
Bolivia | ||
Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|
2007 | 4 | 2 |
2008 | 8 | 3 |
2009 | 6 | 2 |
2010 | 1 | 1 |
2011 | 12 | 2 |
2012 | 6 | 0 |
2013 | 9 | 2 |
2014 | 3 | 0 |
2015 | 6 | 2 |
2016 | 6 | 0 |
2017 | 6 | 1 |
2018 | 5 | 2 |
2019 | 4 | 1 |
2020 | 3 | 3 |
Total | 79 | 21 |
International goals
- Scores and results list Bolivia's goal tally first.[18]
Honours
Club
Vitória
- Campeonato Baiano: 2005, 2007
Cruzeiro
- Campeonato Mineiro: 2008, 2014
- Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 2014
Shakhtar Donetsk
Werder Bremen
Flamengo
Individual
Cruzeiro
- Copa Libertadores de América Top Goalscorer: 2008
Wuhan Zall
- China League One Top Goalscorer: 2017
References
- "Shakhtar swoop for Bolivian starlet". UEFA.com. 28 May 2008. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
- "Moreno goes to Germany". shakhtar.com. FC Shakhtar Donetsk. 30 May 2009. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
- "Moreno – durchgefallen und zurück nach Donezk" (in German). kreiszeitung.de. 29 January 2010. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
- "Marcelo Moreno becomes Wigan's second signing of the day". The Guardian. 1 February 2010. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
- "Wigan sign Bolivia striker Marcelo Moreno". BBC Sport. 1 February 2010. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
- "MARCELO MORENO: "WHAT CONVINCED ME TO COME TO GREMIO IS THE FANS"". Gremio.net. 20 December 2011. Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
- Alegre, Por Eduardo Cecconi Porto. "Ao estilo europeu: Grêmio apresenta Marcelo Moreno no Estádio Olímpico". globoesporte.com. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
- "Flamengo confirm the signing of striker Marcelo Moreno from Grêmio". Sambafoot.com. 9 May 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
- "Cruzeiro complete loan signing of Grêmio forward Marcelo Martins Moreno". Sambafoot.com. 10 January 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
- "亚泰投2.5亿争前八 弃前中超金靴签巴甲银靴". sina. 16 February 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
- Macedo, Guilherme. "Com camisa do Cruzeiro pintada no corpo, Marcelo Moreno provoca rival na chegada". Globo Esporte (in Portuguese). Retrieved 21 February 2020.
- "Globoesporte.com > Futebol - NOTÍCIAS - Achei! Marcelo Moreno, um boliviano de coração verde e amarelo". globoesporte.globo.com.
- "Bolivia vs. Brazil - 11 October 2009 - Soccerway". Retrieved 14 October 2020.
- "Bolivia withstand heavy pressure to edge Ecuador at Copa América". The Guardian. 16 June 2015.
- "Marcelo Moreno abandona seleção boliviana por divergências com técnico". Terra (in Portuguese).
- "Bolívia vence Peru na volta de Marcelo Moreno; Guerrero só entra no 2º tempo". Terra (in Portuguese).
- "Bolivia 2-3 Ecuador Fecha 3 Eliminatorias Sudamericanas a Qatar 2022". El Universo (in Spanish). 12 November 2020.
- Marcelo Martins Moreno - International Appearances
- "2018中甲联赛积分榜". sports.sina.cn. 3 November 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
External links
- Marcelo Martins Moreno – FIFA competition record
- Marcelo Martins Moreno at Soccerway
- Marcelo Martins Moreno at National-Football-Teams.com
- Marcelo Martins Moreno at Soccerbase