Marcelinho (footballer, born August 1984)

Marcelinho

Personal information
Full name	Marcelo Nascimento da Costa
Date of birth	(1984-08-24) 24 August 1984 (age 40)
Place of birth	Manacapuru, Amazonas, Brazil
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Position(s)	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 as Marcelinho (Bulgarian: Марселиньо), is a former Brazilian-born naturalized Bulgarian professional footballer who played as a midfielder.^[3]

A youth product of São Paulo, Marcelinho played for Cascavel, Santacruzense, São Caetano and Catanduvense in his early career. In 2008 he signed with UAE Pro-League club Al-Nasr Dubai. In early 2010, he returned to his home country, joining Mogi Mirim. Few months later Marcelinho signed with Bragantino, before moving to Ludogorets in May 2011. With Ludogorets, he has won nine consecutive Bulgarian league titles from 2012 to 2020, as well as two Bulgarian Cups, and four Bulgarian 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 the Bulgarian national team. He made his debut for Bulgaria in a friendly against Portugal on 26 March 2016.