He was briefly the next great hope for Argentine football, disappearing almost as quickly as he came to prominence. Carlos Marinelli is, perhaps, the best example of a promising young player cursed with 'The new Maradona' tag, doomed to a career that fell wildly short of such colossal expectations.
Born in Villa de Mayo on the outskirts of Buenos Aires in 1982, Marinelli came up through Argentinos Juniors' famed academy and, at the start at least, looked to be following perfectly in Diego Maradona's illustrious footsteps.
Indeed, at just 15, he received his big break when Boca Juniors made a curious sweep of the Argentinos youth ranks. For US$2 million, Boca signed no less than seven youngsters, including a young defender by the name of Fabricio Coloccini and a promising playmaker called Juan Roman Riquelme.
Marinelli's time at the Bombonera, however, was fleeting. His performances on an Under-19 tour in the United Kingdom caught the eye of Middlesbrough, who paid £1.5m for the17-year-old prospect.
Yet to make his professional debut and with just a handful of reserve matches under his belt, Marinelli was on his way to the Premier League amid giddy talk of him being Argentina's next superstar swirling about the more sensationalist corners of the sporting press.
He made his Middlesbrough debut on Boxing Day 1999, coming off the bench in a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday. It was one of only two appearances he made that season, though, while he was restricted to just 13 outings during an injury-disrupted 2000-01 campaign.
Nevertheless, the loudest voices at the Riverside still had high hopes for the Argentine winger.
“Carlos scares opponents,” captain Paul Ince stated. “Technically, he is fantastic. He needs to get a bit stronger but that will come with games. He's going to be a very special player.”
Boro hopes were raised in his third season, especially in November 2001, when he netted his first two goals in a 5-1 demolition of Derby County. It was a false dawn, though. Marinelli fell back out of the first team after Christmas and, in January 2003, having played just seven times that season, he was farmed out to Torino on loan.
A red card in the Turin derby for pushing the referee – he also angrily told the official, "Take off your Juventus shirt!" – was sadly his most memorable moment in Serie A and, by November 2003, his contract at the Riverside had been terminated by mutual consent.
While Marinelli's career up to that point had been wholly underwhelming, his lack of success had had no impact on his sense of self-worth.
At the start of 2004, he was back at Boca playing under legendary coach Carlos Bianchi, but the pair clashed almost from the off and, after just three appearances, he was on the move again, this time to Racing.
Amusingly, Marinelli blamed both Bianchi and his more established team-mates for his disastrous second stint at the Bombonera.
“How could he teach me anything,” he complained to El Grafico, “if he didn't even talk to me. He never gave me any advice?
“One of the big names in the team probably did something to get me out. In England, you win your place by playing well, not by going out to eat with the fans.”
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After his spell at Racing had ended in predictably disappointing fashion, Marinelli became a football globetrotter. He had a short spell at Toronto followed by moves to Portugal, United States, Colombia, Argentina and Hungary.
Two years at Kansas City Wizards hinted at a newfound sense of stability but, for the most part, each transfer brought with it fewer games, fewer goals, and a new set of fans left frustrated that his obvious talent was not complemented by a comparable work ethic.
Marinelli's career ended in Peru. Signed in 2011 by Universidad de San Martin, and still only 28, the Argentine was taken to Lima with great expectations and handed the club's No.10 jersey.
He scored just five goals and Universidad, having won three of the four Peruvian league titles prior to Marinelli's arrival, failed to win a single championship during his five-year stay
"I am not Pablo Vitti," he had stated upon his arrival, referring to his compatriot, who had become an instant favourite in his solitary season at the club. By the time he left, in 2016, fans had been left in no doubt that Marinelli was nothing like his fellow Argentine.
Injuries eventually forced Marinelli out of Universidad and out of the sport, while he was still only 32. For all intents and purposes, he then fell off the face of the earth.
Goal's attempts to track the former player down were unsuccessful, as he has negotiated the first two years of retirement in almost blissful seclusion, making precious few public declarations.
However, this is surprising primarily because we do know that Marinelli turned his hand to representation. Peru goalkeeper Pedro Gallese is the new agent's highest-profile client, and Marinelli was involved in the negotiations that took the shot-stopper to Veracruz in 2016.
So, who knows, perhaps further down the line it will be Marinelli declaring that some wonderkid client will be the 'Next Maradona', a tag he spectacularly failed to fulfil during his remarkably mediocre, trophy-free career.