MADRID: Marcelo was still in his teens when he arrived at Real Madrid with the difficult task of replacing one of his boyhood idols, Roberto Carlos.
It did not take long for him to rise to the challenge.
On Saturday, Marcelo will have a chance to emulate Roberto Carlos’ feat of winning three Champions League titles.
“It’s priceless to be playing again in a Champion League final,” said Marcelo, who will face Juventus on Saturday in Cardiff. “I couldn’t be happier.”
Nearly 11 years after joining Madrid from Brazilian club Fluminense as an 18-year-old promising youngster, Marcelo has become a defensive star just like Roberto Carlos, who won his Champions League titles in 1998, 2000 and 2002.
One of the team’s captains, Marcelo will be trying to win his third European title in four seasons. He scored a goal in extra time when Madrid defeated crosstown rival Atletico Madrid in the 2014 final, and converted a penalty kick in last year’s decisive shootout, also against Atletico.
Marcelo and Roberto Carlos are the foreign players with the most ever appearances with Real Madrid. Marcelo will be playing in his 408th match on Saturday, while Roberto Carlos ended his 11-year stint with the club with 527.
Roberto Carlos left Madrid shortly after Marcelo arrived, but the two remained friends and stayed in contact since then. Roberto Carlos works for the club and still lives in the Spanish capital.
“To come to a place where your idol is playing and have him welcome you so warmly, knowing that you play in his positon, that’s rare in soccer,” Marcelo said. “I came here to be his successor and he treated me and my family as if we were his own. He gave us his number and told us to call him if we needed anything.”
Earlier this year, Marcelo surpassed Roberto Carlos as the foreign-born player with most Spanish league wins with Madrid.
The 44-year-old Roberto Carlos has repeatedly praised his successor, calling him the world’s best full back.
The former great thrived with a very different style compared to Marcelo, relying mostly on his physical strength and incredible long-range shots.
The 29-year-old Marcelo has excelled with his skillful footwork and precise crosses, looking more like a playmaker than a defensive player.
Marcelo was one of the team’s leaders in assists this season, and his performances were good enough to earn him a place in Brazil’s national team under coach Tite.
Marcelo won a bronze medal with Brazil at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but was left out of the 2010 World Cup squad coached by Dunga. He was a starter in Brazil’s 7-1 loss to Germany in the semifinals of the 2014 World Cup.
Roberto Carlos won the 2002 World Cup under coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.
Marcelo will be facing another Brazilian on Saturday, right back Dani Alves, who has thrived since joining Juventus from Barcelona last season. The Brazil teammates will be on the same side of the field and are expected to be constantly going against each other.
“I know that Dani Alves is a very good player and I always enjoying playing against him,” Marcelo said. “It’s going to be a great match.”
Marcelo trying to repeat Roberto Carlos’ success at Madrid
Marcelo trying to repeat Roberto Carlos’ success at Madrid
Teen soccer players lay to rest mate killed in Swiss bar fire
- Brodard is one of seven members of Lutry Football Club who died in the fire, the club said
- Five others are still fighting for their lives in hospitals
LUTRY, Switzerland: Teammates of a 16-year-old soccer player Arthur Brodard were among the mourners on Thursday as Switzerland held funerals for some of the victims of the New Year bar fire in Crans-Montana that killed 40 people, most of them teenagers.
Brodard is one of seven members of Lutry Football Club who died in the fire, the club said. Five others are still fighting for their lives in hospitals.
Under light snowfall, hundreds walked through Lutry’s cobbled streets past a large drawing of Brodard and his younger brother to the church, black umbrellas in hand, filling every pew and spilling into the aisles and doorway.
His mother, Laetitia Brodard-Sitre, carried a white teddy bear and a single red rose — his team colors.
“I want to hug you so tightly that neither of us can breathe. I love you with all my heart, Arthur,” she said, addressing her son’s coffin after singing a song in his memory.
Other class and teammates also gave eulogies, describing him as attentive, sincere, kind and thoughtful.
CLUB PAYS TRIBUTE
At the start of the ceremony, a song called “One day in the wrong place” by France’s Calogero played with the lyrics: “And it’s because they were there/One day in the wrong place.”
Brodard had reserved a table with friends on New Year’s Eve at Le Constellation bar, his mother told Reuters last week.
Just over an hour before the blaze, he texted her “Happy New Year mum. I love you” and shared a disappearing video of them partying together, she said.
His photo, showing him with tousled brown hair carrying a Yorkshire Terrier “Lili,” appeared in newspapers around the world as she sought information on his whereabouts from morgues and hospitals.
He was identified as one of the victims on January 3.
“We will now join forces to fight together, to get our heads above water, regain the initiative, and finally even the score, ball in the center,” Lutry Football Club President Stephane Bise told the congregation.
Swiss authorities said the bar in the upscale ski resort of Crans-Montana had not had a mandatory inspection since 2019 and questions remain about safety standards.
Swiss prosecutors are investigating the owners and victims’ families have filed legal complaints. The owners’ lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Lutry ceremony was one of two back-to-back services for teenage fire victims at the same church.
Another joint funeral for 14- and 15-year-old sisters took place in Lausanne. Schools have mobilized mental health counsellors to support students and teachers.
Twenty-one of the dead were from Switzerland, seven from France, six from Italy, and there was a Swiss-French dual national and a French-British-Israeli national. The remaining four were Romanian, Turkish, Belgian and Portuguese.
