Marcelino Elena

Marcelino

Personal information
Full name	Marcelino Elena Sierra
Date of birth	26 September 1971 (1971-09-26) (age 40)
Place of birth	Gijón, Spain
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 1 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Centre back
Youth career
	Sporting Gijón
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1990–1993	Sporting B
1993–1995	Sporting Gijón	14	(0)
1996–1999	Mallorca	122	(13)
1999–2003	Newcastle	17	(0)
2003–2004	Poli Ejido	46	(0)
1990–2004	Total	199	(13)
National team
1998–1999	Spain	5	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Marcelino Elena Sierra, simply Marcelino (born 26 September 1971), is a retired Spanish professional footballer who played as a central defender.

Club career

Marcelino was born in Gijón, Asturias, and began his career at local giants Sporting de Gijón, where he appeared sporadically with the first team in three seasons, before earning a move to RCD Mallorca in January 1996. There, he was instrumental in the side's promotion to La Liga, forming a formidable partnership with Iván Campo in 1997–98, as Mallorca finished fifth. In the following season, they finished third and lost the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final to S.S. Lazio, with the player appearing in the full 90 minutes in the 1–2 defeat.

In 1999, Marcelino transferred to Newcastle United for £5.8 million, after impressing with Mallorca in Spain and Europe. A lot was expected of him at his new team, but he appeared only 20 times (all competitions) for the club in the first year and a half, being placed with the reserve team for the rest of his spell, and finally reaching an agreement to leave in January 2003.

He also suffered several different injuries during his time at Newcastle which stuttered his career there.^[1] Scans on the affected areas were occasionally declared to be inconclusive,^[2] the most serious of his injuries being a snapped finger tendon which prevented him from playing for two months.^[3]

After one 1/2 seasons in Segunda División with Polideportivo Ejido, Marcelino retired. He subsequently was for two years the Everton's Spanish scout and worked as a football commentator in TVE's Premier League matches. Subsequently, he worked as a football agent.

International career

Marcelino received five caps for Spain in a 7-month period, the first coming against Italy in Salerno, on 18 November 1998.

He would play his last international in an UEFA Euro 2000 qualifier routing of San Marino (9–0 home win, 90 minutes played).

References

1. ^ Never again...; BBC Sport, 1 April 2003
2. ^ Buyers beware - costly flops are everywhere; The Guardian, 23 August 2005
3. ^ Marcelino frustrates Newcastle; The Independent, 8 November 2000

External links

• Stats at Liga de Fútbol Profesional (Spanish)
• BDFutbol profile
• National team data (Spanish)
• Marcelino Elena career stats at Soccerbase

Persondata
Name	Marcelino Elena
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	26 September 1971
Place of birth	Gijón, Spain
Date of death
Place of death