Marcelo Salas
The historic goal scorer of the Chilean national football team has also earned the admiration of fans from Argentina and Italy.
José Marcelo Salas Melinao was born on December 24, 1974 in Temuco, Araucanía Region, Chile. He studied at the Pablo Neruda School there and that is where his football life began. His father enrolled him in the “Green Cross” football school, now Deportes Temuco, at the age of seven, and then in his neighborhood club FC Santos.
With a mother with Mapuche ancestors, one of the distinctions that Salas Melinao treasures most is having been declared an Illustrious Son of Temuco, with which the people expressed their admiration for the quality of his game and their gratitude for holding high the name of the city where he was born.
His success in professional football began with his debut in the Universidad de Chile in 1993, where he won two consecutive national championships (1994 and 1995). A year later he was the top goal scorer in the Copa Chile with 12 goals in 15 games. Thus he became the “matador,” which fans chanted to the beat of the song by the Fabulosos Cadillacs band.
He played in Universidad de Chile until 1996, standing out in the Copa Libertadores de América with 5 goals in 12 games. He has gone down in the records of the national team as its top goal scorer ever, with 37 goals in 70 appearances.
Salas played professionally in Chile, Argentina and Italy until retiring in 2009, defending the colors of Universidad de Chile – at the beginning and before retiring – River Plate, Lazio, and Juventus of Turin, having the honor of being able to become champion of the respective national leagues wearing each of the jerseys the professional clubs he has played for in Chile, Argentina and Italy.
This also makes him the Chilean football player who has won the most championships ever, a total of 16: 2 with Universidad de Chile, 5 with River Plate, 6 with Lazio and 3 with Juventus. The distinctions he has received include being chosen as the best foreign player in Argentina in 1998 and winning the Golden Ball for the best player in the Americas in 1997. This international acknowledgement led to the exceptional situation of his inclusion – in 1996 and 1997 – on the Ideal Team of the Americas.
From 2005 until his retirement the historic forward played in Universidad de Chile, where he was the captain and leader. He played his last game for the national team against Paraguay on 21 November 2007, but his official farewell was on 2 June 2009 in a game-tribute in Chile’s National Stadium. He left behind in the memory of statistics and his admirers 155 goals in official First Division tournaments and 248 goals as a professional football player: 111 in the Universidad de Chile, 48 in River Plate, 48 in Lazio, 4 in Juventus and 37 in the national team. A real goal scorer.