Marcelo Martins Moreno (born 18 June 1987) is a Bolivian professional footballer who plays as a striker for División Profesional side Oriente Petrolero. Considered one of the greatest Bolivian players of all time, he is the national team's all-time capped player and all-time top goalscorer, with 108 caps and 31 goals.

Club career

Moreno was born in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. He began his career at Oriente Petrolero. In 2003, Martins debuted for the club as a 16-year-old in Bolivia's Primera División.

He moved to Vitória, becoming first choice in 2006, at the Campeonato Brasileiro Série C. He scored 12 goals in the competition, four less than the top goalscorer. In the middle of 2007, he moved to Cruzeiro, becoming first choice only in the next year, when he scored 8 goals at the 2008 Copa Libertadores, being the top goalscorer, alongside Salvador Cabañas.

On 27 May 2008, he signed a five-year contract with Shakhtar Donetsk. The Ukrainian club agreed to pay €9 million for the player. On 1 November, he scored a brace in a 3–1 league match win against Zorya Luhansk. Even though he had won the 2008–09 UEFA Cup, on 29 May 2009, unable to establish himself in Donetsk, Moreno joined German club Werder Bremen on loan. Bremen had initially attempted to sign Moreno the previous summer, but the player opted for Shakhtar.

In a 2009 interview, Martins remarked that he didn't want to go to Ukraine at the moment of signing with Shakhtar, but that was the way the negotiation was produced. He commented that it was a difficult moment but it was a moment of adaptation to a new football.

In 2009, he said that when speaking in Portuguese with team mates Naldo and Hugo Almeida that he would feel Brazilian, that Brazil was an important country in his life cause he lived in it for half of his life.

On 2 August 2009, he scored a double in a 2009–10 DFB-Pokal match that ended in a 5–0 victory against Union Berlin. On 29 January 2010, Bremen terminated his contract and he returned to Shakhtar Donetsk. On transfer deadline day, a six-month loan deal between Shakhtar and Wigan Athletic was agreed to take the player to the Premier League. He signed for them on 1 February on loan. After returning to Shakhtar, he made a decent impression, scoring 7 times in 23 appearances. However, after being listed as a reserve the next season, Moreno joined Grêmio in late December 2011 and signed a five-year contract with the Brazilian team starting in 2012. He was then loaned to Flamengo in the 2013 season and Cruzeiro in 2014.

In February 2015, Moreno transferred to Chinese Super League side Changchun Yatai. His first season in China was successful, scoring 20+ goals in 53 games. In 2017 he signed for Wuhan Zall in the Chinese League One being the joint top scorer in his first season with 23 league goals, along with Colombian Harold Preciado. In 2019 Moreno signed with Shijiazhuang Ever Bright. Although he only played 12 games with them, he scored 7 goals.

On 19 February 2020, Moreno returned for his former club, Cruzeiro, signing with them for 3 seasons.

On 30 January 2022, ABC Color announced that Martins would join Primera División Paraguaya team Cerro Porteño. He would be the attacking replacement of Argentine Mauro Boselli. The transfer took effect on 9 February 2022 of Paraguay's summer transfer window. On 10 February, Martins arrived to Paraguay and was officially presented at Cerro Porteño. He signed for two years. He was presented with the number 9 shirt. His salary would not be paid by the club, instead by a private company would. Before signing, Martins spoke with Cerro Porteño coach Francisco Arce, who sent him videos so he can adapt to his play as quick as possible. Martins remarked that Arce was important so that he could join Cerro Porteño. His arrival into Paraguay was made through Cerro Porteño's director, Miguel Carrizosa, who lent his airplane to bring Martins. He became Cerro Porteño's 5th signing ahead of the 2022 Primera División season, following William Riveros, Robert Piris Da Motta, Sergio Díaz and Alfio Oviedo.

International career

Born in Bolivia to a Brazilian father (Mauro Martins, former footballer) and Bolivian mother, Moreno played for the Brazilian under-18 and under-20 sides at the youth level, becoming the first foreign player to be part of this youth setup and the fifth foreign player to wear the Brazilian national team's shirt in an official match,[clarification needed] but chose to represent the Bolivian senior national team as a professional.

Due to his success playing for Cruzeiro, Moreno received his first call-up for a friendly match against Peru on 12 September 2007. He scored his first two international goals on 20 November 2007, during a 2010 World Cup qualifier against Venezuela. On 14 October 2008, he scored both of Bolivia's goals against Uruguay in a 2–2 draw. He also opened the scoring in Bolivia's historic 6–1 victory over Diego Maradona's Argentina on 1 April 2009. A few months later, in October, he scored the winning goal in a 2–1 victory against powerhouse Brazil at Estadio Hernando Siles.

Moreno was included in the Bolivia squad for the 2015 Copa América in Chile. On 15 June, he scored the decisive goal in the team's second group match – a 3–2 defeat of Ecuador – to give La Verde its first win at the Copa América since the 1997 tournament. He was Bolivia's top scorer at the tournament with two goals, also being the only Bolivian player to score in the knockout stage as the side lost 3–1 to Peru in the quarter-finals. Moreno announced his retirement from the national squad on 15 September 2015 together with then captain Ronald Raldes, claiming divergences with head coach Julio César Baldivieso.

Moreno returned to the national squad in 2016 after Guillermo Ángel Hoyos replaced Baldivieso.

On 12 November 2020, Moreno scored his 20th international goal in a 3–2 defeat to Ecuador, equaling Joaquín Botero's all-time top goalscoring record for Bolivia. On 28 March 2023, he played his 100th international match for Bolivia, in which he also scored a goal in a 2–1 win in a friendly match against Saudi Arabia.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueState leagueCupContinentalOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Oriente Petrolero2003Liga de Fútbol Boliviano80————80
2004Liga de Fútbol Boliviano122————122
Total202————202
Vitória2005Série B—————
2006Série C301216440——5016
2007Série B0010141——142
Total301226581——6418
Cruzeiro2007Série A136——10—146
2008Série A1111600108—2215
Total14711600118—3621
Shakhtar2008–09Ukrainian Premier League142—116000213
2010–11Ukrainian Premier League185—223000237
2011–12Ukrainian Premier League00—11100021
Total327—44100004611
Werder Bremen (loan)2009–10Bundesliga50—3241—123
Wigan Athletic (loan)2009–10Premier League120—00——120
Grêmio2012Série A28101478351—5521
2013Série A—20—30—50
2015Série A—41———41
Total28102088381—6422
Flamengo (loan)2013Série A162—42——204
Cruzeiro (loan)2014Série A3215947440—5223
Changchun Yatai2015Chinese Super League249—00——249
2016Chinese Super League2913—00——2913
Total5322—00——5322
Wuhan Zall2017China League One2923—00——2923
2018China League One52—00——52
Total3425—00——3425
Shijiazhuang Ever Bright2019China League One127—11——138
Cruzeiro2020Série B2634020——323
2021Série B1754110——226
Total4388130——549
Cerro Porteño2022APF División de Honor306—0071—377
2023APF División de Honor50——20—70
Total356—0091—447
Independiente del Valle2023Ecuadorian Serie A204——60—264
Cruzeiro2024Série A—00—00—00
Career total38612774243817521100550179

International

As of match played 21 November 2023

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Bolivia200742
200883
200962
201011
2011122
201260
201392
201430
201562
201660
201761
201852
201941
202033
2021137
202262
2023101
Total10831

Scores and results list Bolivia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Moreno goal.

List of international goals scored by Marcelo Moreno
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
120 November 2007Estadio Polideportivo de Pueblo Nuevo, San Cristóbal, VenezuelaVenezuela1–03–52010 FIFA World Cup qualification
23–2
318 June 2008Estadio Hernando Siles, La Paz, BoliviaParaguay4–14–2
414 October 2008Uruguay1–02–2
52–0
61 April 2009Argentina1–06–1
711 October 2009Brazil2–02–1
87 October 2010Estadio Ramón Tahuichi Aguilera, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, BoliviaVenezuela1–31–3Friendly
97 October 2011Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, UruguayUruguay2–42–42014 FIFA World Cup qualification
1011 November 2011Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti, Buenos Aires, ArgentinaArgentina1–01–1
1126 March 2013Estadio Hernando Siles, La Paz, Bolivia1–01–1
1211 June 2013Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos, Santiago, ChileChile1–21–3
1315 June 2015Estadio Elías Figueroa Brander, Valparaíso, ChileEcuador3–03–22015 Copa América
1425 June 2015Estadio Municipal Germán Becker, Temuco, ChilePeru1–31–3
1528 March 2017Estadio Hernando Siles, La Paz, BoliviaArgentina2–02–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
1610 September 2018Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia2–22–2Friendly
1713 October 2018Thuwunna Stadium, Yangon, MyanmarMyanmar2–03–0
1818 June 2019Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilPeru1–01–32019 Copa América
1913 October 2020Estadio Hernando Siles, La Paz, BoliviaArgentina1–01–22022 FIFA World Cup qualification
2012 November 2020Ecuador2–22–3
2117 November 2020Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, ParaguayParaguay1–12–2
2226 March 2021Estadio El Teniente, Rancagua, ChileChile1–11–2Friendly
233 June 2021Estadio Hernando Siles, La Paz, BoliviaVenezuela1–03–12022 FIFA World Cup qualification
243–1
258 June 2021Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo, Santiago, ChileChile1–11–1
265 September 2021Estadio Campeón del Siglo, Montevideo, UruguayUruguay1–32–4
272–4
2816 November 2021Estadio Hernando Siles, La Paz, Bolivia2–03–0
2921 January 2022Estadio Olímpico Patria, Sucre, BoliviaTrinidad and Tobago3–05–0Friendly
301 February 2022Estadio Hernando Siles, La Paz, BoliviaChile2–32–32022 FIFA World Cup qualification
3128 March 2023Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium, Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia1–02–1Friendly

Honours

Vitória

Cruzeiro

Shakhtar Donetsk

Werder Bremen

Flamengo

Individual

See also

External links

  • on X
  • – FIFA competition record (archived)
  • at Soccerway
  • at National-Football-Teams.com
  • at Soccerbase