 Marcelinho in 2019 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Marcelo Nascimento da Costa | ||
| Date of birth | (1984-08-24)24 August 1984 (age 41) | ||
| Place of birth | Manacapuru,Amazonas, Brazil | ||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Attacking midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2001–2002 | Rio Negro | ||
| 2002–2005 | São Paulo | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2005 | Cascavel | 0 | (0) |
| 2006 | Santacruzense | 0 | (0) |
| 2007 | São Caetano | 0 | (0) |
| 2008 | Catanduvense | 0 | (0) |
| 2008–2009 | Al-Nasr Dubai[2] | 12 | (0) |
| 2010 | Mogi Mirim | 0 | (0) |
| 2010–2011 | Bragantino | 24 | (4) |
| 2011–2020 | Ludogorets Razgrad | 234 | (75) |
| 2020–2021 | Vitória | 26 | (1) |
| 2021 | Manaus | 9 | (1) |
| 2021–2022 | Operário | 17 | (3) |
| 2023 | Princesa-AM | 19 | (2) |
| Total | 324+ | (83+) | |
| International career | |||
| 2016–2019 | Bulgaria | 11 | (2) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Marcelo Nascimento da Costa (Bulgarian:Марсело Насименто да Коща; born 24 August 1984), commonly known asMarcelinho (Bulgarian:Марселиньо), is a former Brazilian-born naturalized Bulgarian professionalfootballer who played as amidfielder.[3]
A youth product ofSão Paulo, Marcelinho played forCascavel,Santacruzense,São Caetano andCatanduvense in his early career. In 2008 he signed withUAE Pro-League clubAl-Nasr Dubai. In early 2010, he returned to his home country, joiningMogi Mirim. Few months later Marcelinho signed withBragantino, before moving to Ludogorets in May 2011. With Ludogorets, he has won nine consecutiveBulgarian league titles from 2012 to 2020, as well as twoBulgarian Cups, and fourBulgarian Supercups. With 80 matches played, he holds the record for the most appearances for a Bulgarian team in European tournaments.[4]
Born and raised in Brazil, Marcelinho received Bulgarian citizenship in 2013, and subsequently opted to play internationally for theBulgarian national team. He made his debut for Bulgaria in a friendly againstPortugal on 26 March 2016.
Marcelinho joinedSão Paulo as a seventeen-year-old, but he failed to break into the first-team.[citation needed] Since leaving São Paulo in early 2005 he has played forCascavel,Santacruzense,São Caetano andCatanduvense. In 2008, Marcelinho joinedAl Nasr inDubai.
After one season, Marcelinho left theUAE League sideAl Nasr and signed forMogi Mirim. In the first half of 2010 he earned 15 appearances in theCampeonato Paulista.[citation needed] Marcelinho made his debut in a 5–1 away loss againstPalmeiras on 16 January 2010.
In July 2010, Marcelinho signed withClube Atlético Bragantino,[5] where he played 24 matches and scored four goals to the end of the season in theCampeonato Brasileiro Série B. Marcelinho made his first-team debut in a 2–0 home defeat atPonte Preta on 31 July.[citation needed] In 2011, he appeared 17 times for Bragantino in theCampeonato Paulista, scoring one goal.[6] Marcelinho netted his first goal of 2011 as he scored the winning strike in a 2–1 home victory overSantos on 19 March.[citation needed]
On 12 May 2011, Marcelinho joined Bulgarian teamLudogorets Razgrad on a three-year deal and was assigned the number 84 jersey.[7] His debut came in Ludogorets's opening match in the2011–12 season, at home toLokomotiv Plovdiv on 6 August. Two weeks later, on 20 August, he scored his first competitive goals for Ludogorets, netting twice in a 4–0 win overVidima-Rakovski. On 16 May 2012, Marcelinho was named "Man of the match" in a 2–1 win against Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the2012 Bulgarian Cup Final.[8] He scored both Ludogorets goals late in the match to turn around what had appeared to be a certain defeat for Ludogorets at the hands of Lokomotiv. In the league, Marcelinho scored nine goals and collected his firstA Group title winner's medal at the end of his first season in Bulgaria.
Marcelinho started the 2012–13 season by scoring the third goal in Ludogorets 3–1 win against Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the2012 Bulgarian Supercup on 11 July. A week later, he scored his first-ever Champions League goal, opening the scoring in a 1–1 home draw againstDinamo Zagreb in their second qualifying round first leg tie. He ended the campaign with nine goals in all competitions.
On 19 December 2013, Marcelinho was named the Best foreign player in the Bulgarian league.[9]
On 1 October 2014, Marcelinho scored a stunning goal in the 6th minute during Ludogorets' home debut in the2014–15 Champions League group phase against the current Champions League championReal Madrid, but in an eventual 2–1 loss.[10] A few days later, he signed a one-year contract extension, keeping him at Ludogorets until 2016.[11] On 19 April 2015, Marcelinho made his 100th league appearance for Ludogorets in a 3–1 home win overLitex Lovech. On 1 October 2017, he opened the scoring in anA PFG match againstBeroe, managing his 57th goal in the league (in 171 matches) and thus overtaking the tally of fellow naturalized BrazilianMarquinhos, which allowed him to become the foreign footballer with the most goals in the top Bulgarian division.[12] Marcelinho's record was subsequently itself surpassed by teammateClaudiu Keșerü. In mid July 2019, he was frozen out of the first team by managerStoycho Stoev, following a number of disciplinary breaches.[13] He returned to first team action on 18 August, as a substitute in the match againstCherno More Varna, providing an assist, but also being sent off for a second booking.[14]
On 28 June 2020, Marcelinho announced that he would leave the club after nine years, despite his desire to stay in the club for one more year. Ludogorets subsequently retired the number 84 in his honour for his service to the club.[15]
On 24 January 2013, Marcelinho received aBulgarian passport from the local authorities and became eligible to play for theBulgaria national team. He later stated in an interview that he would be happy to represent Bulgaria at international level.[16][17]
On 7 March 2016, Marcelinho was called up for the first time to the Bulgaria national team for the friendly matches againstPortugal andMacedonia.[18] He scored on his international debut atEstádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa against Portugal on 25 March, scoring the only goal for a 1–0 win.[19] Despite his good performance with the team Marcelinho never received call-ups fromIvaylo Petev's successorPetar Hubchev as he did not want naturalized players in the team.[20]
In 2019 the new national managerKrasimir Balakov once again picked Marcelinho as part of the squad for theUEFA Euro 2020 Qualifications matches on 7 and 10 June againstCzech Republic andKosovo,[21] though he had to withdraw due to an injury.
His brother,Gustavo Costa, is also a footballer who last played forLevadiakos and is the brother-in-law ofFarul Constanța playerRivaldinho and son-in-law of formerBrazil andFC Barcelona player,Rivaldo.[22]
| Club | Season | League | Cup[a] | Continental | Other[b] | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Al-Nasr Dubai | 2008–09 | UAE Pro-League | 12 | 0[2] | 0 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 0 | ||
| Mogi Mirim | 2010 | Série B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 15 | 0 | 15 | 0 | |
| Bragantino | 2010 | Série B | 24 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 24 | 4 | |
| 2011 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 17 | 1 | 17 | 1 | |||
| Total | 24 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 41 | 5 | ||
| Ludogorets Razgrad | 2011–12 | A Group | 25 | 9 | 4 | 4 | — | — | 29 | 13 | ||
| 2012–13 | 25 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 28 | 9 | ||
| 2013–14 | 32 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 55 | 12 | ||
| 2014–15 | 22 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 40 | 12 | ||
| 2015–16 | 26 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 7 | ||
| 2016–17 | Parva Liga | 32 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 15 | |
| 2017–18 | 27 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 42 | 12 | ||
| 2018–19 | 29 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 12 | ||
| 2019–20 | 16 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 6 | ||
| Total | 234 | 75 | 26 | 6 | 80 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 347 | 98 | ||
| Career total | 271 | 79 | 26 | 6 | 80 | 15 | 39 | 3 | 415 | 103 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bulgaria | 2016 | 7 | 2 |
| 2017 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 4 | 0 | |
| Total | 11 | 2 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26 March 2016 | Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa,Leiria, Portugal |  Portugal | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 2 | 6 September 2016 | Vasil Levski National Stadium,Sofia, Bulgaria |  Luxembourg | 2–2 | 4–3 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Ludogorets
Individual
