Marlos, the former midfielder of the Ukrainian national team, celebrated his 35th birthday on June 7. Despite spending ten years in Ukraine playing for Metalist Kharkiv and Shakhtar Donetsk, there is not much information about him apart from his statistics. Marlos, a modest and shy person in real life, prefers to let his play on the field speak for him. FanDay.net introduces the second Brazilian player in the history of the Ukrainian national team and his career, which includes playing for Rentistas Uruguay and winning a dozen titles with Shakhtar Donetsk.
Today, the former midfielder of the Ukrainian national team Marlos, who shone in the UPL with Metalist Kharkiv and Shakhtar Donetsk, celebrated his birthday.
Despite the fact that Marlos played in Ukraine for ten years, apart from statistical calculations, there is not much information about him. Very modest and shy in life, he says everything he wants to say with his play on the football field.
FanDay.net tells about the second Brazilian player in the history of the Ukrainian national team, who turns 35 today.
boring “bronze” Brazil and Uruguay
Romero Bonfim Marlos was born on June 7, 1988 in the city of Sao Jose dos Piñas in the state of Parana, Brazil. Learned the basics of soccer at Coritiba school. He made his debut for the club’s first team at the age of 18, and in total played 34 games for it (three goals, eight assists).
Six-time champions Brazil are eyeing the talented midfielder. The first season in Sao Paulo brought Marlos “bronze”, but after that the team began to decline.
In January 2011, Marlos, as a free agent, joined Rentistas Uruguay, for whom he did not play a single match, as he spent the first year of his contract on loan in Sao Paulo.
Marlos in Sao Paulo
A year later, the talented midfielder finally said goodbye to the “tricolors”, where he played 97 matches (9 goals, 14 assists), and returned to Rentistas, who immediately sold him to Europe.
The metal worker paid four million euros for the 23-year-old Brazilian. The team in Markevich then crawled into health, but it was not difficult for Marlos to break into the first team.
A dozen titles with Shakhtar and the disappointment of a childhood dream
A month after moving to Ukraine, he made his debut in a European competition. In an away match in the 1/16 finals of the Europa League, Kharkiv beat Salzburg (4:0), and the Brazilian who came on as a substitute managed to provide an assist to Marko Devic. In the return game (4:1) Marlos also came on as a substitute, but he already scored himself.
“Climate and power football are the two most difficult things in Ukraine,” Marlos said. – Fortunately, it took me six months to adapt.
Every Brazilian child dreams of seeing snow since childhood. To be honest, I think that when you take snow in your hands, you can hold it for a long time, and it will not crumble – but everything is completely different than on other planets. An unforgettable feeling”.
In total, over two and a half years at Metalist, our birthday man today played 75 matches, in which he scored 13 goals and provided 18 assists.
A goal against Shakhtar in March 2014 sealed his future. Three months later, Pitmen bought the 26-year-old midfielder for eight million euros.
Marlos served the Donetsk club faithfully for eight years. In his composition, he won four championship titles and celebrated the same number of victories in the Ukrainian Cup and Super Cup.
Marlos. Photo: FC Shakhtar
In the “orange-black” T-shirt, the Brazilian played 287 matches, in which he scored 74 goals and 65 assists.
Marlos played his last match for Shakhtar on December 7, 2021, in the final round of the Champions League group stage, when his team went rogue in a home match with Sheriff Yuriy Vernidub (1:1).
During the winter off-season, the 33-year-old went on a free transfer for Atlético Paranense, who he had dreamed of playing for since childhood. Children’s dreams turned out to be far from harsh reality, although everything started well.
In the final of the South American Super Cup, Marlos scored a goal against Palmeiras, and in the 1/16 final of the Brazil Cup against a team with an unpronounceable name, he scored two goals, to which he added two assists. On this, all his productive exploits ended.
Last winter, the veteran, who played just 14 games in less than a year, was shown the door. Now Marlos is thinking whether he needs to find a new club or whether it is time to end his career.
The first Brazilian player from Ukraine to play at the Euros
In the summer of 2017, Marlos was recognized as the best player in the UPL. In the fall of the same year, Petro Poroshenko signed a decree granting Ukrainian citizenship to Brazil.
At that time, the naturalization of Shakhtar players had been discussed for several years. Moreover, UAF already has a successful experience in this direction – Edmar played for the blue-yellow team from 2011 to 2014.
The second Brazilian natural player in the history of the Ukrainian national team brings more benefits to him. His debut came in an away match against Kosovo in a 2018 World Cup qualifier (2:0).
Marlos in the national team. Photo: UAF
A month later, he made his first assist in the national team, putting his foot in the goal of Andriy Yarmolenko in the fight with Slovakia (2:1). The best for Marlos was the away match with Lithuania in the selection for Euro 2020 (3:0). Already in the seventh minute, he helped Alexander Zinchenko score a goal, and 20 minutes later he scored himself.
In the finals of the European Championship, Marlos played through pain. He started and spent 51 minutes on the field in the opening match with the Netherlands (2:3), and also replaced Nikolai Shaparenko 22 minutes before the end of the match with Austria (0:1).
At the end of the tournament, the Brazilian Ukrainian announced the end of his international career, citing health problems after surgery on the musculoskeletal system.
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Does not include return to Ukraine
Marlos’s wife is named Anna. Unlike Edmar, the footballer did not find a bride in Ukraine, but in his homeland. The couple raised two children – son Bernardo (2012) and daughter Anna Sofia (2016).
“Ukraine is a big part of my life,” Marlos said. – I’m not saying this just for beautiful words – I really like the country, I really like the people. Sons, daughters and wives adore Ukraine. They want to stay here. My son speaks Ukrainian better than me. I’m lost in front of the camera.”
