&lt;p&gt;After making his professional debut with&lt;strong&gt; Atlas&lt;/strong&gt; in the &lt;strong&gt;Liga MX&lt;/strong&gt; with just 17 years old, &lt;strong&gt;Rafael M&aacute;rquez &lt;/strong&gt;played three seasons for the Mexican club before starting his remarkable journey in Europe. The former defender had an outstanding career, winning titles that most of the players can only dream of. His achievements and more than 20 years representing the national team made him one of Mexico&rsquo;s living legends.&lt;/p&gt; 
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&lt;p&gt;M&aacute;rquez&rsquo;s performance during the&lt;strong&gt; 1999 Copa Am&eacute;rica&lt;/strong&gt; caught the attention of &lt;strong&gt;Monaco&lt;/strong&gt;&rsquo;s officials. He signed for the French club, where he played for four years, and helped the team to win three titles, including one &lt;strong&gt;Ligue 1&lt;/strong&gt; trophy. During his stint in France, the Mexican proved to be a young but still tough defender. And that&rsquo;s when &lt;strong&gt;Barcelona &lt;/strong&gt;showed up.&lt;/p&gt; 
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&lt;p&gt;The Spanish giant signed M&aacute;rquez and he quickly became the leader of the back line. He had the best years of his career in&lt;strong&gt; Barcelona&lt;/strong&gt;, where he played for seven seasons and won every possible title. He even clinched two&lt;strong&gt; Champions League&lt;/strong&gt; trophies and one&lt;strong&gt; Club World Cup&lt;/strong&gt;. To make it more special, M&aacute;rquez had the opportunity to play alongside soccer superstars such as &lt;strong&gt;Ronaldinho&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;Lionel Messi&lt;/strong&gt;, among others.&lt;/p&gt; 
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   &lt;p dir=&quot;ltr&quot; lang=&quot;es&quot;&gt;&iexcl;Felicidades Rafa M&aacute;rquez! &#65533;&#65533;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt; El central mexicano, campe&oacute;n de la &lt;a href=&quot;https://twitter.com/hashtag/UCL?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&quot;&gt;#UCL&lt;/a&gt; en dos ocasiones, cumple 40 a&ntilde;os. &#65533;&#65533;&#65533;&#65533;&#65533;&#65533; &lt;a href=&quot;https://t.co/2ZuynHwmT2&quot;&gt;pic.twitter.com/2ZuynHwmT2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &mdash; Liga de Campeones (@LigadeCampeones) 
   &lt;a href=&quot;https://twitter.com/LigadeCampeones/status/1095718730439540738?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&quot;&gt;February 13, 2019&lt;/a&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;After playing more than two years for the &lt;strong&gt;New York Red Bulls&lt;/strong&gt; in the &lt;strong&gt;MLS&lt;/strong&gt;, the Mexican joined &lt;strong&gt;Liga MX&rsquo;s Club Le&oacute;n&lt;/strong&gt; to continue with his successful career by clinching two league titles. His performances took him again to Europe, this time to&lt;strong&gt; Italy&rsquo;s Hellas Verona&lt;/strong&gt;, becoming the first Mexican to play in five different countries. And, before retiring in 2018, he returned to his beloved &lt;strong&gt;Atlas&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; 
&lt;p&gt;His international career is also admirable. M&aacute;rquez represented the national team in five &lt;strong&gt;World Cups&lt;/strong&gt;, from 2002 to 2018, and won two&lt;strong&gt; Gold Cups&lt;/strong&gt; and one &lt;strong&gt;Confederations Cup&lt;/strong&gt;. He put his name as one of Mexico&rsquo;s greatest player with his feats and achievements. A true living legend for Mexican soccer!&lt;/p&gt;

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Mexico legends: A look back at Rafael Márquez’s outstanding career

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