Meet Marcel Duarte: The Genius Who Transformed Rodrygo into a Fearless Football Machine

At Real Madrid now, people not only talk about BMV (Bellingham – Mbappe – Vinicius). Instead, they mentioned the quartet “Fantastic Four”, as a recognition for Rodrygo. But not everyone knows, how this monster is created …

Rodrygo is probably the most special case in Real Madrid’s “super quartet”. In terms of speed, he is not as fast as Kylian Mbappe . Despite not having a bad technique, this 24 -year -old striker is not as rich as Vinicius Junior. And about tactical vision, he of course also far behind Jude Bellingham.

But this season, Rodrygo still asserted his role in the system of coach Carlo Ancelotti, and then squeezed the letter R into the BMV trio and turned it into “Fantastic Four”. The reason for this is because it is not particularly excellent in a certain side like three teammates, this striker fully converges the qualities of each person. In addition, he also owns a plus point of his own: the dedicated play based on extremely full physical background.

Rodrygo followers from the first days to Real Madrid would be surprised by his physical change. From a slender teenage boy on the day of debut at the Bernabeu, the 24 -year -old now becomes muscular and full as a athlete. And behind that spectacular makeover was a 45 -year -old man named Marcel Duarte.

The Brazilian expert was the one who helped Rodrygo only suffered only 7 injuries in 6 years of wearing Real Madrid, if not counting the gastroenteritis and Covid-19. Duarte also not only made the Brazilian player stronger and more durable, but also helped him recover faster. The latest example is early this season, when Rodrygo took only 3 weeks to recover from a muscle injury to the match against Osasuna on November 9, although the initial conclusion was that he had to be absent for 6 weeks.

To get that miraculous thing, Rodrygo must follow a special diet and exercise designed by Duarte. In fact, he is not only in charge of improving bodybuilding and improving physical strength for Rodrygo, but also planning “details to every millimeter” in terms of nutrition, rest and even psychology of guests. row. That is why Duarte still called himself a performance expert than a Personal Trainer (PT).

Eric’s father was the one who helped Rodrygo have the opportunity to meet the person who changed his life. After completing two university degrees on physical education and sports training, Duarte became physical expert at Portuguesa Club, then parted with football to switch to operating a Gym system based in Brazil. and Japan. However, fate made him quickly return to football.

One of Duarte’s gym is located opposite the beach, where the Santos youth team often practices. Therefore, some players start to come to ask for advice on exercises. The demand of players is increasing, sometimes up to more than 200 people, so he has to move his gym from the lovely studio overlooking the sea to another wider location. But this is the most interesting thing: Among Duarte’s customers, there is Rodrygo ‘s father Eric Goes .

The former defender used to wear this Criciuma, Guarani and Cuiaba clubs impressed with Duarte that he dragged his 13 -year -old son to “send”. Thanks to the special support, the boy Rodrygo quickly exploded in the Santos shirt. The story later knew: this striker earned a dream contract to Real Madrid, and his father Eric personally invited Duarte to go to Spain, where this expert is creating a monster