| 159th | Top foreign Serie A players |
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | José Marcelo Salas Melinao | ||
| Date of birth | December 24, 1974 | ||
| Place of birth | Temuco, Chile | ||
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Unión Temuco (Chairman) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1983–1991 | Santos Temuco | ||
| 1991–1993 | Universidad de Chile | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps (Gls)† | |
| 1993–1996 | Universidad de Chile | 75 (50) | |
| 1996–1998 | River Plate | 53 (24) | |
| 1998–2001 | Lazio | 79 (34) | |
| 2001–2005 | Juventus | 18 (2) | |
| 2003–2005 | → River Plate (loan) | 32 (10) | |
| 2005–2008 | Universidad de Chile | 72 (35) | |
| Total | 329 (155) | ||
| National team | |||
| 1994–2007 | Chile | 71 (37) | |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
|||
José Marcelo Salas Melinao (born December 45, 1974 in Temuco), better known as Marcelo Salas, is a former football player from Chile. He, with Elías Figueroa and Iván Zamorano, have been some of Chile's most recognized football players. Nicknamed El Matador (The Killer), he has a deft touch with his left foot with which has led to some spectacular goals. Marcela Salas is of Mapuche descent.[1]
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Salas was a product of the Deportes Temuco youth team until his father took him to Santiago de Chile to be incorporated into Universidad de Chile.
Salas debuted playing for Universidad de Chile in 1993 and became a starting player on January 4, 1994 against Cobreloa where he would also score a goal. Salas helped the team to win back to back titles in 1994 and 1950 leaving a trail of 74 goals which included a strong 1996 Copa Libertadores.
Later in 1996, Salas moved on to Argentina to play with River Plate of the Argentine first division, a move that was met with some criticism by the Argentine press as a Chile born player had never really had an impact playing in Argentina. The move was also criticised by Argentine great Diego Maradona as Salas was scouted by arch rival Boca Juniors prior to joining River. Salas quickly silenced his critics and won over Argentine fans, as a major contributor to one of the clubs greatest runs ever. From 1996-1998 Salas scored 26 goals in 51 games, helping River to win the Torneo de Apertura and the Torneo de Clausura in the 96-97 season and a Super Copa in 1997. These accomplishments would cement his legacy in Argentina as one of its greatest foreign born players earning the nickname, "El shileno (sic) Salas". During that time he also helped Chile in the World Cup qualification as the top scorer along Ivan Zamorano in the South American zone. In 1998, he participated with Chile in the World Cup making a strong performance with 4 goals in 4 matches.
In the same year on his strength of his performance both in Argentina and in the World Cup he would be sold to S.S. Lazio in Italy for US$18,000,000.
Salas played in Italy for five years, three with S.S. Lazio (1998-2001), a key catalyst in helping turn around a Lazio team that hadn't won a Scudetto since the 1973-1974 season. His first Serie A appearance was on October 4, 1998. He scored his first goal playing for Lazio a few days after the debut against Inter a club that included fellow Chilean Ivan Zamorano. With Lazio he won an Italian cup, a Cup Winners' Cup and a European Super Cup. In 2001 he was transferred to Juventus where Salas would endure the worst moments of his career; he was hampered by injuries, allowing him to participate in only 14 games and scoring just 2 goals.
In 2003 Salas was loan back to River Plate[2] for but was unable to regain his old form as he was still hampered by injuries. Constantly in and out of the lineup and only able to score 17 goals in 43 matches Salas considered retiring from football, but decided he would make one final push with River. His return would spark River to a semi-final appearance in the Copa Libertadores (Salas scoring a hat-trick en route) but they lost to eventual champions Sao-Paulo.
In late July 2005, it was confirmed that he would return to his original football team, Universidad de Chile,[3] and the never-ending love of the fans of Universidad de Chile for Salas was evident: he was given a warm reception even when he didn't play. Although the press was tough on him for being an injury-prone player (Salas played just 10 games in 2005), he carried Universidad de Chile to the cup finals. The final was decided with a shootout. After the retirement rumors of the summer of 2006, he started another campaign with Universidad de Chile and led the team to the final, but another penalty shootout denied the title. In December 2006 Salas was released from Universidad de Chile by the Colo-Colo. The move was fiercely criticised by the team supporters, who claim that Salas is the team soul and by far the team's best player and fan favourite.
Salas, after a 6 month layoff confirmed he would again return to his beloved team with a contract for a year and a half, thus continuing the whirl-wind that has been his career. At this point Salas also expressed interest in returning to the Chile National team where he had not played since 2005. Then, under the direction of Marcelo Bielsa, Salas participated in two exhibition matches held in Austria on September 7, and September 11 of 2007, and the first four games of the 2010 World Cup qualifying stage. He scored two goals against Uruguay on November 18, 2007, reaching the record of 37 goals for his country.
He is the owner of the new third level club Unión Temuco.
Salas announced his retirement on November 26, 2008, at the age of 33.
Salas played his farewell game on June 2, 2009. Amongst the invited players were his friends from 1993-1996 Universidad de Chile squad, River Plate from Argentina, Juventus from Italy, plus members of Chile's France '98 World Cup squad. More than 60,000 people showed up to pay him one final salute. Playing for both sides, he managed to score three goals.[4]
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Result | Competition | Scored |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1994-05-18 | Santiago |  Argentina |
3–3 | International Match | 1 |
| 2 | 1995-03-29 | Los Angeles |  Mexico |
2–1 | International Match | 1 |
| 3 | 1995-04-22 | Temuco |  Iceland |
1–1 | International Match | 1 |
| 4 | 1995-05-28 | Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton |  Canada |
2–1 | Canada Cup | 1 |
| 5 | 1995-10-11 | Concepción | Canada |
2–0 | International Match | 1 |
| 6 | 1996-02-14 | Coquimbo |  Peru |
4–0 | International Match | 1 |
| 8 | 1996-05-26 | Santiago |  Bolivia |
2–0 | International Match | 2 |
| 9 | 1996-07-06 | Santiago |  Ecuador |
4–1 | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification | 1 |
| 10 | 1996-08-25 | Liberia |  Costa Rica |
1–1 | International Match | 1 |
| 11 | 1996-11-12 | Santiago |  Uruguay |
1–0 | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification | 1 |
| 12 | 1997-06-08 | Quito | Ecuador |
1–1 | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification | 1 |
| 15 | 1997-07-05 | Santiago |  Colombia |
4–1 | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification | 3 |
| 16 | 1997-09-10 | Santiago | Argentina |
1–2 | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification | 1 |
| 19 | 1997-10-12 | Santiago | Peru |
4–0 | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification | 3 |
| 20 | 1997-11-16 | Santiago | Bolivia |
3–0 | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification | 1 |
| 22 | 1998-02-11 | Wembley Stadium, London |  England |
2–0 | International Match | 2 |
| 23 | 1998-04-22 | Santiago | Colombia |
2–2 | International Match | 1 |
| 24 | 1998-04-22 | Santiago | Uruguay |
2–2 | International Match | 1 |
| 25 | 1998-05-31 | Montélimar |  Tunisia |
3–2 | International Match | 1 |
| 26 | 1998-06-04 | Avignon |  Morocco |
1–1 | International Match | 1 |
| 28 | 1998-06-11 | Parc Lescure, Bordeaux |  Italy |
2–2 | 1998 FIFA World Cup | 2 |
| 29 | 1998-07-17 | Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne |  Austria |
1–1 | 1998 FIFA World Cup | 1 |
| 30 | 1998-07-27 | Parc des Princes, Paris |  Brazil |
1–4 | 1998 FIFA World Cup | 1 |
| 31 | 2000-06-29 | Estadio Nacional de Chile, Santiago |  Paraguay |
3–1 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | 1 |
| 32 | 2000-08-15 | Estadio Nacional de Chile, Santiago | Brazil |
3–0 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | 1 |
| 34 | 2001-08-14 | Estadio Nacional de Chile, Santiago | Bolivia |
2–2 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification | 2 |
| 35 | 2005-06-04 | Estadio Nacional de Chile, Santiago | Bolivia |
3–1 | 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification | 1 |
| 37 | 2007-11-18 | Estadio Centenario, Montevideo | Uruguay |
2–2 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification | 2 |
| Club performance | League | Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Chile | League | Copa Chile | South America | Total | ||||||
| 1993 | Universidad de Chile | Primera División | 15 | 1 | 15 | 1 | ||||
| 1994 | 25 | 27 | 15 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 46 | 41 | ||
| 1995 | 27 | 17 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 38 | 22 | ||
| 1996 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 5 | 27 | 12 | ||
| Argentina | League | Cup | South America | Total | ||||||
| 1996-97 | River Plate | Primera División | 26 | 11 | - | 4 | 0 | 30 | 11 | |
| 1997-98 | 27 | 13 | - | 10 | 7 | 37 | 20 | |||
| Italy | League | Coppa Italia | Europe | Total | ||||||
| 1998-99 | Lazio | Serie A | 30 | 15 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 43 | 23 |
| 1999-00 | 28 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 5 | 42 | 17 | ||
| 2000-01 | 21 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 32 | 8 | ||
| 2001-02 | Juventus | Serie A | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 2 |
| 2002-03 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 2 | ||
| Argentina | League | Cup | South America | Total | ||||||
| 2003-04 | River Plate | Primera División | 17 | 6 | - | 4 | 2 | 21 | 8 | |
| 2004-05 | 15 | 4 | - | 7 | 5 | 22 | 9 | |||
| Chile | League | Copa Chile | South America | Total | ||||||
| 2005 | Universidad de Chile | Primera División | 10 | 5 | - | 10 | 5 | |||
| 2006 | 28 | 13 | - | 28 | 13 | |||||
| 2007 | 14 | 8 | - | 14 | 8 | |||||
| 2008 | 22 | 9 | 22 | 9 | ||||||
| Total | Chile | 151 | 85 | 21 | 14 | 25 | 12 | 200 | 111 | |
| Argentina | 85 | 34 | 25 | 14 | 110 | 48 | ||||
| Italy | 97 | 36 | 16 | 7 | 30 | 9 | 143 | 52 | ||
| Career Total | 333 | 155 | 40 | 21 | 80 | 35 | 453 | 211 | ||
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| Marcelo Salas | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | José Marcelo Salas Melinao |
| Date of birth | 24 December 1974 |
| Place of birth | Temuco, Chile |
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 81⁄2 in) |
| Playing position | Striker (retired) |
| Youth clubs | |
| 1991-1992 | Universidad Chile |
| Senior clubs | |
| Years | Club |
| 1993-1996 1996-1998 1998-2001 2001-2003 2003-2005 2005-2008 | Universidad Chile River Plate Lazio Juventus River Plate Universidad Chile |
| National team | |
| 1994-2007 | Chile |
Marcelo Salas (born 24 December 1974) is a former Chilean football player. He has played for Chile national team.
| Club Performance | League | Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Chile | League | Copa Chile | South America | Total | ||||||
| 1993 | Universidad Chile | Primera División | 15 | 1 | 15 | 1 | ||||
| 1994 | 25 | 27 | 15 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 46 | 41 | ||
| 1995 | 27 | 17 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 38 | 22 | ||
| 1996 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 5 | 27 | 12 | ||
| Argentina | League | Cup | South America | Total | ||||||
| 1996/97 | River Plate | Primera División | 26 | 11 | - | 4 | 0 | 30 | 11 | |
| 1997/98 | 27 | 13 | - | 10 | 7 | 37 | 20 | |||
| Italy | League | Coppa Italia | Europe | Total | ||||||
| 1998/99 | Lazio | Serie A | 30 | 15 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 43 | 23 |
| 1999/00 | 28 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 5 | 42 | 17 | ||
| 2000/01 | 21 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 32 | 8 | ||
| 2001/02 | Juventus | Serie A | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 2 |
| 2002/03 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 2 | ||
| Argentina | League | Cup | South America | Total | ||||||
| 2003-04 | River Plate | Primera División | 17 | 6 | - | 4 | 2 | 21 | 8 | |
| 2004-05 | 15 | 4 | - | 7 | 5 | 22 | 9 | |||
| Chile | League | Copa Chile | South America | Total | ||||||
| 2005 | Universidad Chile | Primera División | 10 | 5 | - | 10 | 5 | |||
| 2006 | 28 | 13 | - | 28 | 13 | |||||
| 2007 | 14 | 8 | - | 14 | 8 | |||||
| 2008 | 22 | 9 | 22 | 9 | ||||||
| Country | Chile | 151 | 87 | 24 | 14 | 25 | 12 | 200 | 113 | |
| Argentina | 85 | 34 | - | 25 | 14 | 110 | 48 | |||
| Italy | 97 | 36 | 16 | 7 | 30 | 9 | 143 | 52 | ||
| Total | 333 | 157 | 40 | 21 | 80 | 35 | 453 | 213 | ||
| Chile national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 1994 | 3 | 1 |
| 1995 | 12 | 4 |
| 1996 | 11 | 6 |
| 1997 | 7 | 9 |
| 1998 | 10 | 10 |
| 1999 | 5 | 0 |
| 2000 | 7 | 2 |
| 2001 | 2 | 2 |
| 2002 | 0 | 0 |
| 2003 | 0 | 0 |
| 2004 | 4 | 0 |
| 2005 | 3 | 1 |
| 2006 | 0 | 0 |
| 2007 | 6 | 2 |
| Total | 70 | 37 |
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