Arturo Rodríguez (born 15 December 1998) is a Mexican professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

club Phoenix Rising.

Career

Youth

Rodriguez started his youth career with FC Dallas. However, his road through the academy system was not cut and dried. Rodriguez was actually rejected the first time he tried to join the

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise be ...

academy. After this rejection, Rodriguez played for FC Dallas youth coach Victor Medina outside of the FC Dallas academy for three years. His career took off when Rodriguez starred for his club against professional youth sides from Mexico, like

C.D. Guadalajara Club Deportivo Guadalajara (); often simply known as Guadalajara () and their nickname ''Chivas'' (), is a Mexican professional football club based in Zapopan, Jalisco. Guadalajara is one of the ten founding members of the Mexican First Divi ...

and

Club León Club León Fútbol Club, also known as León, is a Mexican professional football club based in León, Guanajuato, that competes in the Liga MX, the top flight of Mexican football. León has won the Primera División de México/Liga MX title ...

. From that point, Rodriguez signed for FC Dallas's academy in 2017. He helped the club win the prestigious

Dallas Cup The ''Dallas Cup'', is an annual international Football (soccer), football tournament for invited youth teams. The tournament was established i1980and is held in Dallas, Dallas, Texas, with FC Dallas serving as its host club. Venues used for the t ...

during his time with the academy.

Professional

On January 31, 2019, Rodriguez signed his first professional contract with

North Texas SC North Texas Soccer Club is a professional soccer club playing in the MLS Next Pro, a third division league of American soccer. The team is owned by, and operates as the reserve team of the Major League Soccer club FC Dallas. While the senior club i ...

, the reserve team of

, in

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019. The Division III league is operated by United Soccer League, the same group that operates the Division II USL Championshi ...

. Rodriguez's younger brother, David Rodriguez, was also signed to a professional contract with the club. Rodriguez made his debut on March 30, 2019, in a 3–2 win against the Chattanooga Red Wolves. Rodriguez helped lead

North Texas North Texas (also commonly called North Central Texas) is a term used primarily by residents of Dallas, Fort Worth, and surrounding areas to describe much of the north central portion of the U.S. state of Texas. Residents of the Dallas–Fort Wor ...

to the

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

regular season and post-season championship, while becoming the league's assist leader with 10 assists and a leading MVP candidate. On October 31 and November 1, respectively, Rodriguez was named both the Young Player of the Year and the League's Most Valuable Player (MVP). He scored his first goal for the club on November 5, 2019, against fellow

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

reserve side

Orlando City B Orlando City B (or OCB for short) is an American soccer club that began play in 2016 and currently plays in MLS Next Pro. Owned by Orlando City SC and based at the Orlando City training facility in Kissimmee, the club plays its home games at Osce ...

. Rodriguez signed with

Phoenix Rising FC Phoenix Rising Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 2014 as Arizona United Soccer Club, the team is a member of the USL Championship. History On March 13, 2014, Kyle E ...

on December 8, 2020.

Personal

Arturo's younger brother

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

is also a professional footballer. He plays for

Liga MX The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in a ...

club

Atlético San Luis Club Atlético de San Luis, commonly known as Atlético San Luis, is a Mexican professional football club based in San Luis Potosí, replacing San Luis Potosí's Liga MX team San Luis FC after its relocation. San Luis was promoted to Liga MX i ...

Career statistics

Club

Honours

North Texas SC *

Regular Season:

Championship:

Individual *

Most Valuable Player: 2019 *

Young Player of the Year: 2019

References

External links

* *
Arturo Rodriguez
at

1998 births Living people American soccer players Mexican footballers Mexican emigrants to the United States Association football midfielders North Texas SC players Phoenix Rising FC players Real Monarchs players Soccer players from Texas USL League One players Footballers from San Luis Potosí {{Mexico-footy-midfielder-stub