Francisco Javier Rodríguez Pinedo (; born 20 October 1981), commonly known by the nickname Maza is a Mexican former 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 lea ...

who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

Club career

Guadalajara

Rodríguez was born in

Mazatlán Mazatlán () is a city in the Mexican list of states of Mexico, state of Sinaloa. The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding , known as the Mazatlán Municipality. It is located on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast across from th ...

Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities, and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales. It is located in northwest Mexic ...

, which is the origin of his nickname "Maza" (short for Mazatlán). He began his professional career with

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

under Dutch manager

Hans Westerhof Hans Westerhof (born 24 November 1948) is a Dutch football coach and currently supervisory board member at SC Heerenveen. Besides the Netherlands, he has coached in the United States and Mexico. As a player, Westerhof played for BV Veendam and ...

, debuting for the club in the Apertura 2002 tournament. In the Apertura 2006, Rodríguez had a pivotal role in Guadalajara's championship run, winning the final second-leg match 2–1 (3–2 on aggregate) against

Toluca Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the States of Mexico, state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. Toluca has a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census. The city forms the core of the Grea ...

on 10 December. The win gave Chivas their eleventh league championship, a record which stood until América matched it in 2013.

PSV Eindhoven

On 9 May 2008, it was announced that he was transferred for US$1.8 million to Dutch club

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...

, the second Mexican in the latter squad with

Carlos Salcido Carlos Arnoldo Salcido Flores (; born 2 April 1980) is a Mexican former professional footballer. He started his career as a centre-back and played most of it as left-back, then converted to defensive midfielder and ended it as centre-back. He ...

. Rodríguez was predominantly during that debut season mostly on the bench, and proved an alternate centre backs for Dirk Marcellis. He scored his first goal with the Dutch giants on 25 November 2008 with a 30-yard shot against

Heracles Almelo Heracles Almelo is a Dutch professional football club based in Almelo, founded in 1903. The club has won the Dutch national title twice, in 1927 and 1941. Heracles won the Eerste Divisie title during the 2004–05 season, gaining promotion to t ...

. Prior to the start of the 2009–10 season, Rodríguez was given the number four jersey, previously worn by Manuel da Costa, who had transferred to

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

in January 2008. He won a starting spot in the center of defence for both the Eredevisie and the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

VfB Stuttgart

On 14 July 2011, Rodríguez signed a three-year contract with

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...

for an undisclosed fee. Rodríguez made his

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

debut on 6 August 2011 in a 3–0 win against

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

. He registered an assist in the 37th minute to

Cacau Claudemir Jerônimo Barreto (born 27 March 1981), known as Cacau (, ;), is a former professional footballer who played as a striker. Born in Brazil, he represented Germany at international level. Cacau received German citizenship in February ...

, which gave Stuttgart a 2–0 lead in their 3–0 victory.

América

On 2 January 2013, Rodríguez was transferred to América. When América defeated

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul S.A. de C.V., commonly referred to as Cruz Azul, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football league system, Mexican footba ...

in the Clausura 2013 final, he became the first player in history to win a league championship with both América and Chivas, archrivals in Mexico's biggest rivalry, El Súper Clásico. He had previously won the league title with Chivas in the Apertura 2006.

Cruz Azul

On 4 June 2014, Rodríguez was transferred to

Lobos BUAP

After six seasons with

, Rodríguez was transferred to newly promoted

Lobos BUAP Club de Fútbol Lobos de la Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla were a Mexican football club based in Puebla, Mexico. The club represented the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla. The club's history goes back to the early 1930s ...

for the Apertura 2017.

International career

Youth

Rodríguez was part of the Mexico

2004 Olympic The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

under-23 team. They were eliminated in the group stage, having finished third in Group A, below group winners

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Senior

Rodríguez made his debut with the senior national team on 18 February 2004 in a friendly against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Carson, California Carson is a city in the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay and the Los Angeles Harbor Region, Harbor regions of Los Angeles County, California, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International ...

. He scored his first goal for Mexico on 8 July 2005 in a 1–2

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup () is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament is held every two ...

loss against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. On 2 April 2006, he was called up by coach

Ricardo La Volpe Ricardo Antonio La Volpe Guarchoni (; born 6 February 1952) is an Argentine former professional footballer and manager. He is a World Cup-winning goalkeeper who played for most of his career in Argentina and Mexico. As a coach, La Volpe was i ...

for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

. Rodríguez played in the match against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. Rodríguez was a part of the Mexico squad in the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

. He was a starter in all of Mexico's group matches, and played the

Round of 16 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

match against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. During the

2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 11th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition, and the 21st CONCACAF regional championship overall in CONCACAF's 50 years of existence. The United States was the host nation. The competition started on Jun ...

, Rodríguez, and four other members of the Mexico national team, tested positive for the banned substance of

Clenbuterol Clenbuterol is a sympathomimetic amine used by sufferers of breathing disorders as a decongestant and bronchodilator. People with chronic breathing disorders such as asthma use this as a bronchodilator to make breathing easier. It is most comm ...

and were withdrawn from the tournament squad. However, all players were exonerated as FIFA determined that the accused had ingested the banned substance via contaminated meat that had been served during a pre-tournament training camp. However,

World Anti-Doping Agency The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; , AMA) is an international organization co-founded by the governments of over 140 nations along with the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against d ...

appealed to the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; , TAS) is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland, and its courts are located in New York City, Sy ...

to request a ban. But on 12 October 2011, WADA withdrew this request after the full file was made available to them. Rodríguez also participated at the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

, where he became a key part of Mexico's central defense line, along with

Rafael Márquez Rafael Márquez Álvarez (; born 13 February 1979) is a Mexican football coach and former player who played as a defender. He is currently the assistant coach of the Mexico national team. Nicknamed '' El Káiser'', he is regarded as the bes ...

and

Hector Moreno In Greek mythology, Hector (; , ) was a Trojan prince, a hero and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. He is a major character in Homer's ''Iliad'', where he leads the Trojans and their allies in the defense of Troy, killing c ...

Career statistics

Club

''Updated 26 May 2013''

International

International goals

Honours

Guadalajara * Primera División: Apertura 2006 PSV *

Johan Cruyff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

América *

Liga MX Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

: Clausura 2013 Mexico U23 * CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship:

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Mexico *

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

third place:

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Individual *

CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship The CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship was an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its continental qualifying tournament for the men's olympic teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean, to determin ...

Best XI:

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Francisco Javier 1981 births Living people Footballers from Mazatlán Mexican expatriate men's footballers Mexican men's footballers Men's association football defenders Mexico men's international footballers Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Mexico 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2007 Copa América players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup players CONCACAF Gold Cup–winning players Liga MX players C.D. Guadalajara footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Eredivisie players PSV Eindhoven players Mexican expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands VfB Stuttgart players Club América footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Bundesliga players Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Germany FIFA Men's Century Club 21st-century Mexican sportsmen