Marcelo Pletsch

{{short description|Brazilian footballer}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}}

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Marcelo Pletsch

| image =

| fullname = Marcelo José Pletsch

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1976|05|13|df=y}}

| birth_place = Toledo, Brazil

| height = {{height|m=1.85}}

| position = Defender

| currentclub =

| clubnumber =

| youthyears1 =

| youthclubs1 =

| years1 = 1998

| clubs1 = Ceará

| caps1 = -

| goals1 = -

| years2 = 1999

| clubs2 = Oliveira de Frades

| caps2 = -

| goals2 = -

| years3 = 1999–2005

| clubs3 = Borussia Mönchengladbach

| caps3 = 142

| goals3 = 3

| years4 = 2005–2006

| clubs4 = 1. FC Kaiserslautern

| caps4 = 22

| goals4 = 1

| years5 = 2006–2008

| clubs5 = Panionios

| caps5 = 44

| goals5 = 6

| years6 = 2008–2009

| clubs6 = Omonia

| caps6 = 36

| goals6 = 0

| years7 = 2009–2010

| clubs7 = Vojvodina

| caps7 = 23

| goals7 = 1

| years8 = 2011

| clubs8 = Cascavel

| caps8 = 5

| goals8 = 0

| totalcaps = 272

| totalgoals = 11

}}

Marcelo José Pletsch (born 13 May 1976) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a defender.

Career

In his homeland, Pletsch played with Ceará in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, before moving to Portuguese lower league club Oliveira de Frades.

In summer 1999, he moved to Germany signing with Borussia Mönchengladbach.{{cite news|last1=Foth|first1=Frederik|last2=Vogt|first2=Moritz|title="Linke Bazille"|url=http://www.11freunde.de/artikel/mittelmaessige-fussballer-der-bundesligahistorie-7|accessdate=5 October 2016|work=11 Freunde|date=5 April 2015}} At Mönchengladbach, he spent the first two seasons in the 2. Bundesliga before playing in the Bundesliga for the following four seasons. During the 2002–03 season, he gained notoriety for a "brutal" foul on Werder Bremen's Markus Daun who was forced out of action for half a year due to injuries sustained.{{cite news|last1=Hermanns|first1=Stefan|title=Mit heiligem Zorn|url=http://www.tagesspiegel.de/sport/mit-heiligem-zorn/438514.html|accessdate=5 October 2016|work=Tagesspiegel|date=11 August 2003|language=German}} In the second half of the 2004–05 season, he was suspended by the club after calling Mönchengladbach a "shitty club" and director of football Christian Hochstätter a "backstabber".{{cite news|title=Pletsch in Brasilien mit 793 Kilogramm Marihuana erwischt|url=http://www.rp-online.de/sport/fussball/borussia/marcelo-pletsch-in-brasilien-mit-793-kilogramm-drogen-erwischt-aid-1.6305841|accessdate=5 October 2016|work=RP Online|date=5 October 2016|language=German}} During his six-year tenure at the club, Pletsch made a total of 142 league appearances and scored three goals.

Subsequently, Pletsch moved to 1. FC Kaiserslautern for the 2005–06 season. After a year of playing in Kaiserslautern, he left Germany and moved to Panionios of the Superleague Greece. Pletsch made 44 league appearances and scored six goals for the club. In January 2008, he transferred to Cypriot side Omonia where he stayed for a year and a half, making 36 league appearances.

In July 2009, it was announced that Pletsch signed a one plus one-year contract for Serbian club Vojvodina. He left them at the end of the 2009–10 season.

In February 2011, Pletsch returned to Brazil after more than a decade to play with Cascavel in the Campeonato Paranaense.

Personal life

In a May 2011 interview with German sports magazine 11 Freunde, Pletsch stated he was the owner of a pig farm.{{cite news|title="Nirgendwo war es so gut wie in Deutschland"|url=http://www.11freunde.de/interview/marcelo-pletsch-ueber-seine-zeit-gladbach|accessdate=5 October 2016|work=11 Freunde|date=12 May 2011|language=German}}

In November 2015, he was arrested for drug trafficking after police had seized a truck carrying {{convert|793.3|kg|lb stlb}} of marijuana near his hometown Toledo.{{cite news|title=Trio é preso por tráfico de quase 800 quilos de maconha em Toledo|url=http://www.marechalnews.com.br/policial/trio-e-preso-por-trafico-de-quase-800-quilos-de-maconha-em-toledo/|accessdate=5 October 2016|work=Marechal News|date=11 November 2015|language=Portuguese}} In October 2016, it was reported that he was sentenced to a prison term of nine years and two months by a court in Curitiba, with the judgment upheld on appeal.{{cite news|title=Ex-Bundesliga player Marcelo Pletsch imprisoned for drug trafficking|url=http://www.espnfc.com/german-bundesliga/story/2981574/ex-bundesliga-player-marcelo-pletsch-imprisoned-for-drug-trafficking|accessdate=26 October 2016|work=ESPN|date=26 October 2016|language=English}}

Career statistics

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
rowspan="2"|Club

!rowspan="2"|Season

!colspan="3"|League

!colspan="2"|Cup

!colspan="2"|Europe

!colspan="2"|Total

!rowspan="2"|{{Tooltip|Ref.|Reference}}

DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
rowspan="7"|Borussia Mönchengladbach

|1999–2000

|rowspan="2"|2. Bundesliga

|28

000colspan="2"|—280

|{{cite web |title=Marcelo Pletsch » Club matches |url=https://www.worldfootball.net/player_summary/marcelo-pletsch/2/ |website=worldfootball.net |accessdate=4 December 2019}}

2000–01

|26

04|0colspan="2"|—300

|

2001–02

|rowspan="4"|Bundesliga

|27

020colspan="2"|—290

|

2002–03

|26

21000272

|

2003–04

|16

00000160

|

2004–05

|19

11000201

|

colspan="2"|Total

!142||3||8||0||0||0||150||3

!–

1. FC Kaiserslautern

|2005–06

|Bundesliga

|22

13100252

|

rowspan="3"|Panionios

|2006–07

|rowspan="2"|Super League Greece

|27

310colspan="2"|—283

|

2007–08

|17

32060253

|

colspan="2"|Total

!44||6||3||0||6||0||53||6

!–

rowspan="3"|Omonia

|2007–08

|rowspan="2"|Cypriot First Division

|13

000130

|

2008–09

|23

060290

|

colspan="2"|Total

!36||0||||||6||0||42||0

!–

Vojvodina

|2009–10

|Serbian SuperLiga

|23

13000261

|{{Soccerway|40825}}

colspan="3"|Career total

!267||11||17||1||12||0||296||12

!–

References

{{reflist}}