Marcelinho Carioca

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,

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 2001. 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

International

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, 2003 South American Team of the Year: 1998 All-time official free-kick top goalscorer in football history: 78 goals