Marcos, goalkeeper of the Brazilian team who won the World Cup 2002, announced his retirement, at age 38. He retires after a career of 20 years, playing only for one team: Palmeiras; the team informed that no other player will wear jacket #12, the one Marcos used to wear; also, there plans of building an statue of Marcos to be planted at the stadium of Palmeiras.
That Brazilian team of 2002 had a few stars, mostly Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo.
However, I dare to say that Brazil would not be champion if Marcos weren’t there.
He didn’t appear much in the first games, because Brazil had a good defense (this is the specialty of the then Brazilian coach, Felipão), with Lucio and Juan in the back, Gilberto Silva, Kléberson and Edmílson in the middle defense.
However, in the tough moments, Marcos was there. Brazil won Belgium (see here and here), but when the match was 0 x 0, Marcos made spectacular defenses. And, most important, in the final match against Germany, also when the match was 0 x 0, again Marcos was there; had the Germans scored first, they would probably win.
Winning a World Cup depends on details; in 2002, the winning detail of Brazil was Marcos.
Marcos was never a media star, CBF won’t organize a farewell match, like it did for Ronaldo; but Marcos had the recognition of all Brazilians, for being a good goalkeeper with and excellent character.
