Carlos Marinelli

Boca Juniors

Son of Héctor Marinelli, a former Boca Juniors player, Marinelli started off his youth career at Argentinos Juniors before being signed by Boca Juniors in a package of youth players that included names such as Juan Román Riquelme, Fabricio Coloccini and César La Paglia. Marinelli had only one reserve appearance against Independiente in August 1999 before being spotted by Middlesbrough when Boca's U-19 team played in Europe. On 27 October 1999, he joined the English side for £1.5 million.

Middlesbrough

Billed as the new Maradona by the English press, Marinelli played his first match for Middlesbrough for the reserve team against Barnsley, scoring from a free-kick in a game that had an attendance of nearly 10,000 people. He made his first team debut at the 1999 Boxing Day Premier League match against Sheffield Wednesday, playing the second half in a 1–0 loss. He had a second Premier League appearance that season in a 1–1 draw against Watford. The following season, Marinelli played a total of 13 matches with only 305 minutes of action, averaging less than 25 minutes per match played. He was sent off in the 2–2 draw against Bradford City on 25 November 2000 and had dealt with ankle injuries that cost his place at the Argentina under-20 squad for the 2001 South American U-20 Championship. Under Steve McClaren, who was appointed manager for the 2001–02 season, Marinelli featured regularly for the first team after recovering from a calf injury earlier…

Marinelli played for the Argentina national under-17 football team at the 1998 Mundialito Youth Tournament, where they were champions and in the 1999 South American Under-17 Football Championship, playing three matches as Argentina finished in 4th place and failed to qualify for the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship. He also played in friendly matches for the Argentina national under-20 football team as they prepared for the 2001 South American U-20 Championship, scoring twice in a match against Bolivia.