Career
Early career
Marcelinho joined São Paulo as a seventeen-year-old, but he failed to break into the first-team Since leaving São Paulo in early 2005 he has played for Cascavel, Santacruzense, São Caetano and Catanduvense. In 2008, Marcelinho joined First Rate (at Lloyd's) Nasr in Dubai.
Mogi Mirim
After one season, Marcelinho left the United Arab Emirates League side First Rate (at Lloyd's) Nasr and signed for Mogi Mirim.
In the first half of 2010 he earned 15 appearances in the Campeonato Paulista. Marcelinho made his debut in a 5–1 away loss against Palmeiras on 16 January 2010.
Bragantino
In July 2010, Marcelinho signed with Clube Atlético Bragantino, where he played 24 matches and scored four goals to the end of the season in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B. Marcelinho made his first-team debut in a 2–0 home defeat at Ponte Preta on 31 July. In 2011, he appeared 17 times for Bragantino in the Campeonato Paulista, scoring one goal.
Marcelinho netted his first goal of 2011 as he scored the winning strike in a 2–1 home victory over Santos on 19 March.
Ludogorets Razgrad
On 12 May 2011, Marcelinho joined Bulgarian team Ludogorets Razgrad on a three-year deal and was assigned the number 84 jersey. Marcelinho"s debut came in Ludogorets"s opening match in the 2011-2012 season, at home to Lokomotiv Plovdiv on 6 August. He scored both Ludogorets goals late in the match to turn around what had appeared to be a certain defeat for Ludogorets at the hands of Lokomotiv.
A week later, he scored his first-ever Champions League goal, opening the scoring in a 1–1 home draw against Dinamo Zagreb in their second qualifying round first leg tie.
He ended the campaign with 9 goals in all competitions. On 19 December 2013, Marcelinho was named the Best foreign player in the Bulgarian league.
A few days later, he signed a one-year contract extension, keeping him at Ludogorets until 2016. On 24 January 2013, Marcelinho got a Bulgarian passport and became eligible to play for Bulgaria.
He said that he would be happy to represent Bulgaria at international level
On 7 March 2016, Marcelinho was called up for the first time to the Bulgarian national team for friendly matches against Portugal and against Macedonia.