MARCELO CAPURRO

Beyond the ?Mens sana in corpore sano??

Despite the topic must be absolutely considered unfair, it is indeed really difficult to imagine an elite sportsman devoting his free time to culture, artistic expression or botanical care. Those seem to be spheres that do not match smoothly in our mental structure, no matter how open-minded we are trying to be… And, if besides the top-flight athlete condition, you add a modeling career, the image gets even more unthinkable. Meet the Uruguay National Team striker, Marcelo Capurro, and all these myths crumble…

Born 30 years ago in Colón (Montevideo) this dynamic attacker on the sand is a true “all-in-one” boy, a multidisciplinary and multi-talented youngster with a privileged body which makes him dangerous on the pitch and admirable on the catwalk, and a special taste and sensitivity he conducts through different means of artistic expression… Painting, sculpture, dancing… whatever.  But lets build his profile from the beginning…

As most of the Beach Soccer stars, Marcelo’s first steps were made on the grass, and quite successfully, indeed. After spending the first years of his career in the youth categories of Nacional de Montevideo, he joined Progreso, before doing what thousands of professionals of the proportionally most exporting Football country in the world do: going to play abroad. His capacity to play up front and in the wide midfield got him jumping from one country to another, landing in Persim Maros (Indonesia top league), Vitesse (Dutch Eredivisie) and Miramar Misiones (Uruguay top division), before closing the circle and going back to Progreso.

Despite finding there some rewarding stability, his competitive breed brought him to accept a new offer for some more Old-continent football action, and joined up Italian Serie B side Reggina, where he spent a whole season.

It took not too long for him to be enlisted in the Beach Soccer National team after closing that stage… After a charity match he played in Punta del Este with big stars such as Francescoli, Sosa, and some others, the Uruguay National coach of the time, Fernando Rosa, recruited him for the sand, amused with his outstanding physical conditions and his intensity on the pitch. His debut with the “Charrúa” could not be better: In his first tournament, the Copa Latina in 2011, Uruguay historically upset the world kings Brazil to bag the cup home…

His special nose for the goal, his fighting capacity and his blond hair quickly got him nicknamed as “the Beach Soccer Forlán”, something he does not feel, at all, uncomfortable with… “He is a true idol, one of the best players in the history of the country… Why would I be upset?”. Indeed, he even had the chance to make some jokes about it when he, together with some of the teammates of the Mutual Uruguaya de Futbol (Players Association) joined a training session of the Uruguay Football National team just before travelling to the FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010, where the ‘celeste’ collected a commendable fourth place.

Besides the professional football and Beach Soccer, Marcelo is one of those people who loves training, who loves exercising. “I like to take care of myself, and this entails taking care of my body”.  Workout is part of his life, and has always been, as he always found two or three hours, beyond team sessions, to train on his own, even as a way of knowing himself even better, exploring his capacities, the limits of his physical condition.

His life has always been tightly bonded to sport, and his passion for body wellness turned into his source of living, as Marcelo is now one of the most demanded physical trainers in Montevideo. Besides, that amount of sensible training granted him a body, with quite admirable abs, that quickly caught the attention of fashion show organizers, and TV show producers.

Marcelo has always believed that any open door is a new possibility, room to grow personally and to dive into things you may enjoy a lot. “I do not fear anything, I only see the opportunity”. And this is precisely what he thought when Lorena Chaparro offered him the possibility to parade in a swimsuit and underwear fashion show. “Of course I felt a bit embarrassed in the beginning, but I leaped into it, and I have not stopped since that moment”, he admits. Now, he enjoys a really busy modeling career, seeing himself walking across the catwalk almost every weekend, and also allowing him to participate in popular TV shows.

This joyful and ‘terribly shy’ Uruguayan is one of these examples one can blindly use to take to pieces that argument that says that muscles, sensitivity and intelligence cannot be contained in one same body… Spending three minutes with him is discovering a culturally eager soul, a person who loves to express himself in a lot of different ways… Indeed, Marcelo’s other passion is spending endless hours in his family workshop , giving free rein to his plastic artist side and having it transferred into wood, painting, plaster… Moreover, he loves growing all type of plants, bonsais, flowers… Far from any cliché, isn’t it?

The question is ‘How can he find time to fulfill all these facets?’ Well, he absolutely does, and the way he explains how makes you think that you are not making the most of your life… “I find no problem in combining all I do… It is only a matter of organizing yourself and looking for the best moment to do what you want to do. For me, it is clear: I get up really early, and I invest the whole morning in the club, as a physical trainer, and the fashion side comes in the evening or the night”.

It may sound easy, specially under his calmed, enthusiastic and confident voice, but it must be not… Just on the contrary of what they say in TV shows “Do try it at home”, it may turn you into a more complete individual… At least, it is absolutely worth trying…