 Marcos withKuban in 2012 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Marcos Pinheiro Pizzelli | ||
| Date of birth | (1984-10-03)3 October 1984 (age 41) | ||
| Place of birth | Piracicaba, Brazil | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Attacking midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2000–2005 | São Carlos | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2006–2008 | Ararat Yerevan | 78 | (44) |
| 2008–2009 | →ASA Issy (loan) | ||
| 2009–2011 | Pyunik | 49 | (31) |
| 2011–2012 | Metalurh Donetsk | 18 | (4) |
| 2012–2013 | Kuban Krasnodar | 31 | (8) |
| 2013–2014 | Krasnodar | 6 | (0) |
| 2014 | →Aktobe (loan) | 28 | (8) |
| 2015–2016 | Aktobe | 27 | (5) |
| 2016 | Al-Raed | 13 | (4) |
| 2016–2017 | Al-Fujairah | 7 | (4) |
| 2017 | Xanthi | 10 | (0) |
| 2017–2018 | Al-Shabab | 15 | (3) |
| 2018–2019 | Aktobe | 35 | (20) |
| 2019–2020 | Ararat-Armenia | 0 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2008–2019 | Armenia | 68 | (11) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 31 December 2019 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 20:53 23 September 2018 (UTC) | |||
Marcos Pinheiro Pizzelli (pronounced[pitˈtsɛlli];Armenian:Մարկոս Պինեյրո Պիզզելլի; born 3 October 1984), commonly known asMarcos, is a former professionalfootballer. Born in Brazil, Marcos representedArmenia internationally between 2008 and 2019.
Pizzelli started his career at the Brazilian clubSão Carlos as a youth from 2000 to 2005. In 2006, the young talent was spotted by an agent fromArarat Yerevan, who soon recruited Pizzelli. His debut took place on 30 April in a game againstUlisses. Pizzelli entered the field in the 58th minute of the match, replacingTigran Yesayan. His first goal for Ararat happened on 16 June in another game againstUlisses. For the first season Pizzelli focused on adapting, and the next on scoring goals. With his good performances, Pizzelli was the leading scorer in theArmenian Premier League twice with Ararat, scoring 22 goals during the2007 Armenian Premier League and scoring 17 goals during that2008 Armenian Premier League.[2] As a result of the financial problems that befell Ararat, the club decided to loan Pizzelli to the amateur club of the French 5th Division – Ararat (Issy-les-Moulineaux).
Six months later, in the summer of 2009, Pizzelli's contract withArarat Yerevan ended, and, as a free agent, he accepted offer ofFC Yerevan Pyunik. In July, he signed a long-term contract. With Pizzelli playing for Pyunik, the club won the2009 Armenian Premier League and2010 Armenian Premier League, won the2009 Armenian Cup and2010 Armenian Cup and won the 2010 Armenian Supercup. In the 10th round of the 2010 Armenian Premier League, Marcos had his 100th match in the Premier League in the history of his performance.[2] That season, Pizzelli became the top goalscorer for a third time along with ArmenianGevorg Ghazaryan, with both scoring 16 goals. In the middle of the2011 Armenian Premier League, Pizzelli scored six goals, but was then transferred toMetalurh Donetsk.
In June 2011, Pizzelli signed a contract withMetalurh Donetsk, along with Pyunik teammate Gevorg Ghazaryan.[3] In his first official match for the Donetsk club, Pizzelli scored a goal, and this goal, scored againstChornomorets Odesa, was the only one in the match. In the higher level championship, Pizzelli had more difficulty playing and found it harder to score than in the Armenian Premier League. However, his trouble scoring was also due to the Metalurh coach not playing as a striker, but instead as an attacking midfielder.[4]
In January 2012, Pizzelli joinedKuban Krasnodar. In 2011, in a match between Russia and Armenia, the head coach of Team Kuban Dan Petrescu spotted Pizzelli and was interested in the player. After a long observation of the game of Pizzelli, Petrescu agreed to acquire the player. On 13 January, they signed a contract for three years.[5] On 18 March, Pizzelli scored the first goal in theRussian Premier League and brought Kuban the win overRubin Kazan. Pizzelli was voted player of the month for Kuban a second time in May 2012.[6]
In May 2013, Pizzelli agreed to join Kuban Krasnodar's rivalsFC Krasnodar on a two-year contract starting on 10 June 2013.[7] After six months with Krasnodar, Pizzelli joinedKazakhstan Premier League sideAktobe on a season-long loan in January 2014.[8]
In October 2014, Pizzelli made his loan move fromFC Krasnodar permanent.[9] Following the conclusion of the2015 season, Pizzelli was transfer listed by Aktobe.[10]
On 18 January 2016, Pizzelli moved to Saudi clubAl-Raed.[11]
On 27 June 2016, Pizzelli was transferred toAl-Fujairah of theUAE Arabian Gulf League.[12]
On 13 February 2018,FC Aktobe announced the return of Pizzelli to the team.[13] He was awarded the Kazakh Premier League top goal scorer after scoring 18 goals in 24 games.
On 31 December 2019,FC Ararat-Armenia announced the signing of Pizzelli,[14] however on 11 January, Ararat-Armenia and Pizzelli announced that he was retiring from football due to injury.[15]
In May 2008, Pizzelli receivedArmenian citizenship and became a member of theArmenia national team. He made his first appearance on 28 May 2008 and scored on his debut in a friendly away game againstMoldova. The match ended with the score 2–2. After playing three games that year, he was briefly no longer invited to the national team. After moving to Yerevan to play for Pyunik, he again came to the attention of coaches and 12 August 2009 Marcos again played for the Armenia national team regularly. On 8 October 2010, in a match against Slovakia, he made a scoring pass toYura Movsisyan, and a few days later, he scored Armenia's fourth goal in a game against Andorra. That victory then went on to secure Armenia's by that time highest everFIFA World Ranking as 42nd. For his second goal for the national squad, Pizzelli scored in an away match with Russia (3–1 loss). His third goal for the team scored in am away match against Andorra in which Armenia won 3–0. His fourth goal for the national team scored in the match against Macedonia, in which Armenia won 4–1. In a friendly game, which was held 29 February 2012 againstCanada, marked the first time in his double gate rivals.[16] On 11 September 2012, Pizzelli was controversiallysent off in a2014 World Cup qualifier againstBulgaria.[17]
On 11 October 2014, Pizzelli had a penalty saved bySerbia goalkeeperVladimir Stojković in aUEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match, after whichZoran Tošić scored a late equaliser to give Serbia a 1–1 draw.[18]
Pizzelli is married to his wife Natalia. They met in Brazil and she moved with him to Armenia. He and Natalia do not have children.[19] Pizzelli speaksPortuguese,Armenian,English and was learningRussian. He identifies as Brazilian-Armenian. Pizzelli says he feels more Armenian than Brazilian. He said he would never forget about Armenia, which gave him an opportunity to develop his skills. "I am grateful to this country for everything. I would play for Armenia as long as the squad needs me."[20]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Ararat Yerevan | 2006 | Armenian Premier League | 24 | 5 | – | – | 24 | 5 | ||||
| 2007 | 26 | 22 | – | – | 26 | 22 | ||||||
| 2008 | 28 | 17 | 2 | 0 | – | 30 | 17 | |||||
| Total | 78 | 44 | 2 | 0 | – | 80 | 44 | |||||
| ASA Issy (loan) | 2008–09 | CFA 2 | – | – | ||||||||
| Pyunik | 2009 | Armenian Premier League | 12 | 9 | 2 | 0 | – | 14 | 9 | |||
| 2010 | 26 | 16 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | – | 32 | 19 | |||
| 2011 | 11 | 6 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 28 | 16 | ||||
| Total | 49 | 31 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 0 | – | 57 | 34 | |||
| Metalurh Donetsk | 2011–12 | Ukrainian Premier League | 18 | 4 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 19 | 4 | ||
| Kuban Krasnodar | 2011–12 | Russian Premier League | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 10 | 3 | ||
| 2012–13 | 21 | 5 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 23 | 6 | ||||
| Total | 31 | 8 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 33 | 9 | ||||
| Krasnodar | 2013–14 | Russian Premier League | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | – | – | 8 | 2 | ||
| Aktobe (loan) | 2014 | Kazakhstan Premier League | 28 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 10 |
| Aktobe | 2015 | Kazakhstan Premier League | 27 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | 32 | 6 | |
| Al-Raed | 2015–16 | Saudi Professional League | 13 | 4 | 2 | 0 | – | 2 | 1 | 17 | 5 | |
| Al-Fujairah | 2016–17 | UAE First Division League | 7 | 4 | – | – | 7 | 4 | ||||
| Xanthi | 2016–17 | Super League Greece | 10 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 13 | 0 | ||
| Al-Shabab | 2017–18 | Saudi Professional League | 15 | 3 | 1 | 1 | – | – | 16 | 4 | ||
| Aktobe | 2018 | Kazakhstan Premier League | 24 | 18 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 25 | 18 | ||
| 2019 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 11 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 35 | 20 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 36 | 20 | ||||
| Career total | 317 | 131 | 24 | 10 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 356 | 142 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Armenia | 2008 | 2 | 1 |
| 2009 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 8 | 3 | |
| 2012 | 7 | 2 | |
| 2013 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2014 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2015 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2017 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 5 | 2 | |
| Total | 65 | 11 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28 May 2008 | Sheriff Stadium,Tiraspol, Moldova | 1 |  Moldova | 1–0 | 2–2 | Friendly | [24] |
| 2 | 15 October 2010 | Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium,Yerevan, Armenia | 10 |  Andorra | 4–0 | 4–0 | UEFA Euro 2012 qualification | [25] |
| 3 | 4 April 2011 | Petrovsky Stadium,Saint Petersburg, Russia | 13 |  Russia | 1–0 | 1–3 | UEFA Euro 2012 qualification | [26] |
| 4 | 2 September 2011 | Camp d’Esports d’Aixovall,Aixovall, Andorra | 15 | Andorra | 1–0 | 3–0 | UEFA Euro 2012 qualification | [27] |
| 5 | 7 October 2011 | Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia | 17 |  Macedonia | 1–0 | 4–1 | UEFA Euro 2012 qualification | [28] |
| 6 | 29 February 2012 | Tsirion Stadium,Limassol, Cyprus | 19 |  Canada | 1–1 | 3–1 | Friendly | [29] |
| 7 | 2–1 | |||||||
| 8 | 13 June 2015 | Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia | 42 |  Portugal | 1–0 | 2–3 | UEFA Euro 2016 qualification | [30] |
| 9 | 11 October 2016 | National Stadium,Warsaw, Poland | 53 |  Poland | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification | [31] |
| 10 | 6 September 2018 | Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia | 62 |  Liechtenstein | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2018–19 UEFA Nations League D | [32] |
| 11 | 16 October 2018 | Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia | 65 | North Macedonia | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2018–19 UEFA Nations League D |
Ararat Yerevan
Pyunik Yerevan
Aktobe
Individual