June 20, 2023, 10:48 PM
June 20, 2023, 10:48 PM
The friendly match between Bolivia and Chile, which was played this Tuesday night at the Tahuichi Aguilera stadium in Santa Cruz, had a special seasoning, which has to do with Marcelo Martins. The striker played his 102nd match with La Verde and equaled Ronald Raldes’ record. Now there are two players who have played the most games with the national team.
El Matador currently plays for Independiente del Valle in Ecuador and it is likely that at the start of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers he will be able to perform a new record when Bolivia faces Brazil and Argentinain September.
Something that Raldes, 42, will not be able to do (04-20-1981), who has already left professional soccer and currently serves as president of the Oriente Petrolero club.
Both They are the only ones who have managed to pass the barrier of 100 games played with the absolute selection of Bolivia.
Martins was born in Santa Cruz, On Sunday, June 18, he turned 36 years old.. His debut in La Verde came in 2007, in a friendly against Peru in Lima, on September 12. At that time Martins was 20 years old.
Besides, the striker is the all-time top scorer for La Verde with 31 goals, something that cannot be compared with what Raldes did in terms of goals, because the latter played as a defender, but as data it should be mentioned that he managed to score three goals for the team.
For this reason, before the start of the match, the Bolivian Football Federation (FBF) paid homage to the Matador by presenting him with a T-shirt of the selection with the number 102 and the phrase “next to the Green”.
