As a teenager he became a first divison soccer player and eventually played for the national team. His travels with the team gave him his first exposure to the United States. On his travels he dreamed of moving to America.

After he finished his soccer career, he was visiting the United States, where met Colleen Delia. They moved from NYC to Aspen, Colorado and have two children in the Aspen schools.

In 1997 Marcelo opened a trattoria in Aspen called Toscana that he he ran for five years. He went on to work in Cache Cache, one of Aspen's most popular restaurants.