Marcelo José Salas Melinao (born December 24, 1974¹ in Temuco), better known as Marcelo Salas, is a football player from Chile. He and Iván Zamorano are two of Chile's most famous soccer players.

Salas debuted playing for the Universidad de Chile in 1993. In 1996, Salas went on to play with River Plate of the Argentine first division. That year also, he helped his team in Chile win the national championship. In 1998, he participated with Chile in the World Cup, after his run at River Plate was over.

Salas then played in Italy for five years, three with S.S. Lazio (1998-2001) and two with Juventus (2001-03), before coming back to River Plate. With the Chilean national team, he has 34 goals (a national record) in 62 games.

Notes

¹ Some records suggest 1976 as his birth year, however, most records, including his playing records, indicate that he was born in 1974.