Gonzalo Javier Rodríguez Prado (; born 10 April 1984) is an Argentine 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

central defender 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 ...

. After starting out at

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Villa San Lorenzo, town and municipality in Salta P ...

, he spent most of his career with

Villarreal Villarreal (officially, in ) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's capital ( ...

, appearing in 253 competitive matches over the course of eight

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

seasons (nine goals). He also played five years in the Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

with

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 ...

Club career

San Lorenzo

Born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, Gonzalo started playing with

San Lorenzo de Almagro Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro is an Argentine professional sports club based in the Boedo neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its football team, which plays in the Primera División, the first tier of the Argentine foot ...

. He made his Primera División debut on 26 July 2002 at the age of 18, against

Rosario Central Club Atlético Rosario Central (), more commonly referred to as Rosario Central, or simply Central, is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina, that plays in the Argentine Primera División. The club was officially founded on 24 December 1889, ...

. At age 20, Rodríguez had already represented

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 ...

, previously having appeared at the

2003 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship was the 14th FIFA World Youth Championship. It took place in United Arab Emirates between 27 November and 19 December 2003. Brazil claimed their fourth title, becoming the first country to simultaneously ho ...

with the under-20 team.

Villarreal

In July 2004, Rodríguez signed for Spain's

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Villarreal, in the Province of Castellón, Castellón province of easte ...

, being an undisputed starter in his first two seasons and renewing his contract for a further five years. However, after the surprise elimination from the

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

at the hands of

NK Maribor Nogometni klub Maribor () is a Slovenian professional Association football, football club based in Maribor, Slovenia. It competes in the Slovenian PrvaLiga, the top tier of the Football in Slovenia#League system, Slovenian football league system ...

, in which he was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

, and a month into the league campaign, he suffered a serious injury, tearing the

cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint, wrist joint and the atlanto-axial joint. In a fashion similar to the cords in ...

in his right knee; after returning to activity in April 2007, he suffered the same injury two months later. Rodríguez returned to good form in 2008–09, often partnering Uruguayan

Diego Godín Diego Roberto Godín Leal (born 16 February 1986) is a Uruguayan former professional Association football, footballer who played as a centre-back. Regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation, he started out at C.A. Cerro, Cerro and ...

and totalling 48

games over two seasons, with his side always qualifying for the

UEFA 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 ...

, finishing fifth and seventh respectively. On 7 April 2011, in the Europa League quarter-final tie against

FC Twente Football Club Twente (), sometimes known internationally as FC Twente Enschede, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from the city of Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub E ...

, he broke his

fibula The fibula (: fibulae or fibulas) or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. ...

following a tough challenge by

Marc Janko Marc Janko (born 25 June 1983) is an Austrian former professional association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. Janko was a successful goal-scorer, particularly during his time at Austrian Footb ...

, being rushed to hospital in an ambulance and lost for the remainder of the season.

Fiorentina

In early August 2012, following Villarreal's relegation, Gonzalo joined

ACF 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 ...

alongside his teammate

Borja Valero Borja Valero Iglesias (; born 12 January 1985) is a Spanish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. He began his career with Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid but did not have any impact with its first team, a ...

. He scored six

goals from 35 appearances in his

first year A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

, helping to a final fourth place and the subsequent Europa League qualification. In the 2015–16 season, Rodríguez was named new

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

by new manager

Paulo Sousa Paulo Manuel Carvalho de Sousa (; born 30 August 1970) is a Portuguese football manager and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. He is the current manager of UAE Pro League club Shabab Al Ahli. Starting his career ...

. He made his 200th competitive appearance for the Italian club on 9 April 2017, and marked the occasion with his 25th goal in a 2–2 away draw against

UC Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Genoa, Liguria. Sampdoria was formed in 1946 from the List of football club mergers, merg ...

Return to San Lorenzo

Rodríguez returned to San Lorenzo in July 2017, on a free transfer. On 23 June 2020, the 36-year-old announced his retirement.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Argentina's goal tally first.''

Honours

San Lorenzo *

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, also known as Copa Sudamericana (; ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL, the governing body of football in South America, since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club com ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

Villarreal *

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 ...

Individual *Fiorentina All-time XI

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Gonzalo Javier 1984 births Living people 21st-century Argentine sportsmen Argentine men's footballers Footballers from Buenos Aires Men's association football central defenders Argentine Primera División players San Lorenzo de Almagro footballers La Liga players Villarreal CF players Serie A players ACF Fiorentina players Copa Sudamericana–winning players Argentina men's youth international footballers Argentina men's under-20 international footballers Argentina men's international footballers 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players Argentine expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy