It's become an all-too-frequent occurrence in modern football that any new signing from South America is billed as the new Brazilian or Argentinian wonderkid.

But when Middlesbrough signed Carlos Marinelli, talked up as the new Maradona, from Boca Juniors in 2000, people sat up and took notice.

The Premier League might have been around for almost a decade back then, but the top flight was not yet awash with what Alan Sugar would term 'Carlos Kickaballs', and while a foreign player was not quite the novelty he once would have been, everyone's eyes were on the teenage midfielder.

This was Middlesbrough after all, the club who had cast off stereotypes of smog and smut (Roy 'Chubby' Brown anyone?) to bring us Juninho, Emerson, Ravanelli and, er, Mikkel Beck in the 1990s.

Sadly, Marinelli failed to live up to the hype, and after just four goals in three less than memorable years, left the Riverside for a string of less-than-illustrious clubs in Europe and America, and is currently plying his trade in Peru at the age of 32.

Future England international: Stewart Downing

One of those goals came in a League Cup clash against Brentford in October 2002. The Bees had started off well enough under Wally Downes, winning four of their first five games and remaining unbeaten in their first eight to set the early pace in Division Two (third tier).

However, the wheels had started to come off a tad by the time they entertained Middlesbrough, with three defeats in four games, including a 5-1 mauling at Peterborough.

Marinelli opened the scoring after 18 minutes, and when Noel Whelan added a second two minutes later it was effectively game over.

If two in two minutes had stunned the Bees, Boro then hit two in a single minute after the break, courtesy of Mark Wilson and future England international Stewart Downing, before Ibrahima Sono pulled back a consolation in the last minute.

Brentford's bright start was a distant memory by the end of the season as they finished 16, and Downes lasted until the following March before being sacked and replaced by Martin Allen.

Consolation goal: Ibrahima Sonko

The team he sent out against Boro was: Smith, Dobson, Roget, Sonko, Anderson, O'Connor, Hutchinson, Fullarton, Hunt, Vine, McCammon.

It was a first meeting in 15 years between the two sides, with Boro having done the double over the Bees when the north-east side dropped into in the old Division Three in 1986-87.

In fact, meetings between the two sides are rarer than a Jake Bidwell goal, with only five in the last 65 years, and you have to go all the way back to January 1964 for Brentford's last win, goals from John Dick and Bill McAdams earning a 2-1 FA Cup victory at Griffin Park.

The overall record, however, remains all square, with seven wins each and three draws from 17 meetings down the years.

Keep up to date with all the build-up. matchday and post-game reaction to Middlesbrough v Brentford right here on GetWestLondon.