MARCELO CALLS IT A DAY TO HIS FOOTBALLING CAREER

Written by: Kamogelo Mogale

Marcelo Viera da Silva Junior has officially announced his retirement from professional football at the age of 36. His retirement comes as the second one in two years of former Real Madrid players, with German International Toni Kroos, who called time to his footballing career last year.

The Brazilian international started his youth career with his boyhood club Fluminense in 2002, where he ultimately made it to the senior team in 2005. He only managed to 30 appearances with the Rio de Janeiro based club and scored 5 goals at that time.

He then switched Portuguese for Spanish as his career took a turn for the best as he signed with Real Madrid. He spent a remarkable 15 seasons with Los Blancos, where he worked with different managers such as Fabio Capello, Bernd Schuster, Juande Ramos, Manuel Pellegrini, Jose Mourinho, and more notably Zinedine Zidane.

He managed to claim 546 appearances for the Madrid based, registered 26 goals and has become one of the club’s most decorated players, winning 25 trophies: 5 UEFA Champions League trophies, 4 FIFA Club World Cup trophies, 3 UEFA Super Cups, 6 LaLiga titles, 2 Copa del Ray and 5 Spanish Super Cups.

Having left Real Madrid in 2022, he joined Olympiacos and spent only a season where he only managed 5 appearances for the club. He has had a full circle moment as he returned to his boyhood club, Fluminense, where managed 43 appearances, 4 goals and won his first trophy with the club, the Copa Libertadores.

For his international career, he only managed 58 appearances for his country, Brazil and has only won 1 trophy, the FIFA Confederations Cup back in 2009, in South Africa.

He will be widely regarded as one of the best left backs in the world, he will also be remembered for his afro, his attacking capabilities, his movement on the ball, explosive pace and dribbling skills. Oh hail King Marcelo 12! Obrigado!