UEFA Cup final 1994, second leg on May 11th, the 57th minute of the game. In the Stadio San Siro, which was sold out with 80,000 spectators, it took your breath away: Marquinho’s shot from almost 20 meters went to the left inside bar, from there jumps along the goal line and from the right bar back into the field. “It would have been a different game if the ball had gone in,” Marquinho told the APA around 30 years later. “It was a special opportunity – a ball I will never forget. And I think the Austria Salzburg fans don’t either.”
With one goal, the 0-1 result from the first leg in Vienna would have been equalized, and there was belief in the first European Cup triumph for an Austrian club. “We would definitely have been much better in the game,” said Marquinho. “Unfortunately it didn’t go in.” Six minutes later, Dutchman Wim Jonk scored the gold goal for Inter, and the heavy favorites ultimately won both games 1-0. At that time the final was played as a return leg.
“Details make a difference”
Marco Antonio dos Santos, Marquinho’s full name, still remembers the final fondly. The support for players and the club in the city of Salzburg was unique. “Our team was welded together and consolidated. The solidarity was visible on the field,” emphasized the now 56-year-old. “The games against Inter showed that we were there to win. But in football, details make the difference.”
GEPA/Franz Pammer Marquinho (below right) was part of the Salzburg team that reached the 1994 UEFA Cup final against Inter
The midfielder played half-seasons in Salzburg in the spring of 1994 and 1996, but there is no longer any contact with the city of Mozart. He doesn’t know anyone at Red Bull Salzburg. “But my wish is that Austria Salzburg gets back up, to the first division,” said Marquinho about the regional league team founded by fans. “That’s what I wish for this beloved club.”
Salzburg Group D
The official successor club to the former UEFA Cup finalist is competing on a much larger stage: in the Champions League against Inter, the finalist of the previous season. “It will be a very complicated game for Red Bull Salzburg,” said Marquinho. “But I think they are prepared to play a good game. It’s a remake, so I wish them good luck. I hope that Austrian football will continue to develop upwards.”
Marquinho runs a football school
He himself is trying to develop that in Peru. As a player he achieved legendary status there in the 1990s, and even after retiring from his career in 2000, Marquinho lives with his wife in Lima. Together with his son Lucas, the ex-footballer runs a football school for children aged three to 14 under the title Tiro Libre (Free Kick). “It’s nice to see the development. We can help children who might want to become professionals one day. I try to teach them everything I’ve learned.”
APA/TIRO Libre/Lucas Dos Santos The Brazilian now lives in Peru, where he also runs a soccer school
Marquinho was considered a specialist in free kicks and he led Alianza Lima to the championship title in 1997. Before that, he was also named Footballer of the Year in Peru. “My wife and I have always loved this country,” explained the Brazilian. “We are doing very well here.” The man from the state of Sao Paulo was also champion with Salzburg in 1994 under legendary coach Otto Baric. “That was a very nice chapter in my career.” Would it have been different if the ball had gone into the goal on May 11, 1994? “It’s very relative. It was a game of very high importance, but I don’t think so.”
