Marcelo Fleitas

Julio Marcelo Fleitas Silveira (born 1 September 1973, in Montevideo) is a Uruguayan-Ecuadorian football coach, currently for Fuerza Amarilla, and former football defender.

Club career

Fleitas is a retired player that played most of his professional career in Ecuador. Although he is Uruguayan by birth, he is a curiosity because he has never played for any professional team of Uruguay in any division. When he was just starting his career, he moved to Argentina and played there for small lower division clubs Leandro Alem and Defensa y Justicia before travelling to Ecuador to play for Olmedo.

In Riobamba, Fleitas quickly showed that he was a very versatile, brave, fast and valuable defender, helping CD Olmedo to win their first and only Ecuadorian title in 2000. He played there for 3 seasons before signing for Barcelona S.C. for two seasons, where he also played very well, but the club's poor performance in both seasons made him leave the club. Then he was transferred to Deportivo Cuenca where he played the last 3 seasons and where he helped the team to qualify to two consecutive Copa Libertadores and he became one of the team's captains. Before the end of 2008 he was transferred to Emelec due to Deportivo Cuenca's financial crisis.

International career

Fleitas has played for over 8 seasons in the Ecuadorian league and because of this he decided to become an Ecuadorian citizen. Since he was never capped for his country of birth (Uruguay), he is eligible to play for the Ecuadorian national team. He received his first call-up to the Ecuadorian national team for 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Peru and Argentina. He received his first cap on June 7, 2009 against Peru in a game that was won by Ecuador 1-2.