The success of Real Madrid, which has won three European Champions Cups over the past four years, is not least connected with the name of football player Marcelo Vieira, one of the best left-backs of our time. He perfectly fulfills his direct duties of defending his own goal, and besides this, with his rocket passages on the flank, he breaks the enemy’s defenses and helps his attacking players.
Play style
Marcelo Vieira is the modern ideal of an extreme defense player. Low, light, he has excellent speed and endurance of the Kenyan styer, which allows him to tirelessly plow the left flank of the field for ninety minutes of the game.
Like all Brazilians, Marcelo is incredibly technical, able to easily beat any player one to one. Due to this, some coaches preferred to use this universal soldier in an attack, where he played the role of a winger, that is, he acted as an extreme forward.
However, the authoritative Portuguese mentor Jose Mourinho finally returned Marcelo to the defense zone, rightly reasoning that the high-speed qualities of the Brazilian will allow him to play the role of a lateral, that is, combine the duties of the left defender and midfielder, completely covering his flank.
Today, the football player of Real Madrid is considered the best in its position in the world, he repeatedly becomes the author of assists in decisive matches, breaking at an insane speed through the enemy’s defenses.
Becoming the Heir to Roberto Carlos
Marcelo Vieira was born in 1988 in Rio de Janeiro. Its history is typical of most Brazilian talented football players. He grew up in a poor area, his family did not even have enough money to pay for his trips to the Fluminense training base.
Big football could never recognize the name of Marcelo, because from the age of nine he played futsal - a less popular version of the famous game. At thirteen, he joined the Fluminense youth team, one of the most popular clubs in South America.
The guy’s talent was valued so highly that they even paid him trips to the training base so as not to lose him.
Marcelo Vieira came out to play for the adult Fluminense team at the age of seventeen, becoming one of the fans' favorites. It took only two seasons for European clubs to notice a talented guy and began to attack his native club with attractive offers to move into their ranks.
Relocation to Europe
As Marcelo himself says, among the applicants was Moscow CSKA, which in those years was able to correctly choose cool football players from Brazil.
However, the strongest won, and a native of Rio became a player in Real Madrid, to which he arrived in 2007. At that time, the great left back, Roberto Carlos, was considered to be one of the main football stars of the decade.
A veteran who completed his career for the national team helped the guy adapt to the new conditions and supported him. Largely from his filing, an unknown junior was called the successor to Roberto Carlos in the position of left back in the national team and club.
For Real Madrid, Marcelo Vieira entered the field in January 2007. The first season, he got used to European realities and usually strengthened the game from the bench. However, already in the next season the club coach made a bet on him and turned the main team into a player.
Growth difficulties
However, at the end of the 2000s, many experts were skeptical about the capabilities of Marcelo. He was criticized for his excessive enthusiasm for the attack, the adventurous style of play, because of which there was a loss of the ball and the defender did not have time to return to his half of the field.
In the 2008/2009 season, there was a certain crisis in the Brazilian’s game, he didn’t play very well and more and more often turned out to be outside the main squad. Very often, the coach of Real Madrid Juan de Ramos released him on the field as an attacking player, using the speed and technique of Marcelo.
This practice was continued by Manuel Pelegrini, who replaced De Ramos as a team coach. Marcelo played in the attack zone, supplying partners with cool gears.
The situation changed with the arrival of Jose Mourinho, who returned Marcelo to the position of left-back, motivating it with the fact that the Brazilian’s speed qualities are more efficiently used in this way.
Superstar
Against the background of the promoted superstars of the Madrid club, the modest hard worker Marcelo Vieira looked completely unnoticed, but brought great benefit to the team. Only in the last couple of seasons, experts and fans finally saw that many goals of Ronaldo and Benzema are possible due to the constant passes of Marcelo on his left flank. For example, in the 2014/2015 season, he gave ten assists, which is a crazy indicator for an extreme midfielder.
Of particular admiration for the game of the Brazilian in the season 2016/2017. Lateral joined in the most crucial moments and performed productive actions in the decisive matches of the Champions League playoffs, helping the team win the prestigious trophy for the second time in a row.
Marcelo Vieira's personal life
The constancy of the Brazilian in family life also cannot but cause admiration. He has been married by mail for ten years to his longtime girlfriend, the popular Brazilian actress Clarice Alves. Over the years of marriage, they became the parents of two sons - Enzo and Liam.