Carlos Ariel Marinelli[2] (born 14 March 1982 in Villa de Mayo, Buenos Aires) is an Argentine former footballer, who played as an attacking midfielder.
[6] Billed as the new Maradona by the English press,[7] Marinelli played his first match for Middlesbrough for the reserve team against Barnsley, scoring from a free-kick in a game that had an attendance of nearly 10,000 people.
[10] He was sent off in the 2–2 draw against Bradford City on 25 November 2000[11] and had dealt with ankle injuries that cost his place at the Argentina under-20 squad for the 2001 South American U-20 Championship.
[17] On 31 January 2003, he was loaned to Torino until the end of the season,[18][19][7] playing a total of 7 Serie A matches,[7] receiving a red card in the derby against Juventus after pushing the referee.
[12][7] In January 2005, after attracting interest from Torino, Marinelli paid 30,000 Euros from his own pocket to leave Racing and return to the Italian side.
[12] In September 2005, Marinelli had the opportunity to join Portuguese side Braga, but had his registration denied by Primeira Liga after the end of the transfer window.
Having limited playing time at Braga due to an injury in his right foot, he returned to Argentina for treatment and trained with Boca Juniors to regain match fitness.
[12] In 2007, he joined the Kansas City Wizards of Major League Soccer[32] after the American club went to Argentina in their preseason and became interested in the player after seeing him in video.
[12][5] On 19 January 2011, Marinelli signed with Peruvian first division team Universidad San Martín,[42] taking part at the 2011 Copa Libertadores and scoring once.