Marcelo Gonçalves Costa Lopes

Gonçalves was born in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro state. He started his career at Flamengo in 1987. However, he rose to fame playing for Botafogo and was first called up to play for the Brazil national team with the latter club. In addition to playing for Botafogo and Flamengo, Gonçalves also played for Santa Cruz, Cruzeiro, Internacional, and Mexican club Tecos UAG. With Botafogo he won the Brazilian championship in 1995, the Carioca championship in 1990 and in 1997, and the Rio-São Paulo championship in 1998; with Tecos (Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara), he won the Mexican championship in 1994, and the CONCACAF Cup Winners' Cup in 1995. He scored the match-winning goal for Botafogo in the club's 1–0 win against Vasco da Gama in the 1997 Taça Guanabara final. Gonçalves also played for Cruzeiro in the club's 2–0 defeat to German side Borussia Dortmund in the 1997 Intercontinental Cup final.

At international level, Gonçalves won the Copa América with the Brazil national team in 1997, as well as the Confederations Cup in the same year. He was mainly a reserve player in Brazil's squad during the 1998 FIFA World Cup, appearing against Norway and Chile, as the team went on to reach the final. In total, he was capped 24 times for Brazil, scoring just one goal.