Santo Dérbi: Marcos makes his mark and earns Brazil call in debut year at Palmeiras | OneFootball

Marcos introduced himself to Palmeiras supporters in 1996, the year of his first official outing, and capped it with a Brazil call-up.

Nosso Palestra charts that rise. His professional debut came on 30 March against XV de Jaú. In May, still understudy to Velloso, he saved a penalty in a 4-0 win over Botafogo-SP, then closed the campaign in the faixa match, again versus XV de Jaú.

An August training collision injured Velloso, handing Marcos a first sustained run of 14 games with nine wins, three draws and two defeats across the Brazilian league and Copa Conmebol. Two were clássicos, against Santos and São Paulo, both 2-1. His first Dérbi arrived the following year.

His form earned a first Seleção call from Zagallo for the October friendly with Lithuania in Teresina, Piauí. Zetti started in a 3-1 win, Ronaldo scoring all three, while Flávio Conceição and Djalminha, Marcos’s Palmeiras team-mates, also featured.

Journalist Paulo Vinícius Coelho recalled that Marcos already had youth-team pedigree and was Dida’s main rival, though he missed the 1993 Under-20 world title. Former Palmeiras goalkeeper Marcelo Moreira said he was on the bench for the Botafogo-SP penalty save and felt privileged to watch a future great emerge.

Velloso returned from injury in October 1996 and, after a discussion with goalkeeping coach Valdir Joaquim de Moraes and Marcos, the youngster accepted a return to the bench. Velloso ended the year with 11 straight appearances until elimination by Grêmio in the Brasileiro quarter-finals.

Source: Nosso Palestra

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”