Matías Nicolás Rodríguez (, born 14 April 1986) is an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

naturalized Chilean 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 plays as a

right-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 ...

right midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

Deportes Melipilla Deportes Melipilla is a Chilean football club, based on Melipilla, a comune in the Santiago Metropolitan Region. It was founded on January 24, 1992, as a successor of ''Club Deportivo Soinca Bata''. The club has its classic rival, San Antonio Un ...

Club career

After years spending in

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

academy, he moved

Ecuadorian Serie A The Liga Pro Ecuador Serie A, simply known as the Liga Pro or the Serie A (or the Ecuadorian Serie A to distinguish it from the Italian Serie A and the Brazilian Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Série A), or as Liga Pro Ecuabet for sponsorship re ...

club Aucas in mid-2006 (after fail joined on trial to Barcelona de Guayaquil), where scored three goals in 13 league matches, which his transfer fee was appraised in

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

1 million, because their well performances. Following his success, he returned to Boca and had an horrible 2007, after have a seriously

tibia The tibia (; : tibiae or tibias), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two Leg bones, bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outsi ...

and

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. ...

injury. Finally, after one-and-half year without play, he joined Nacional Montevideo in June 2008. In January 2010, following Gerardo Pelusso's departure (coach of Rodríguez at Nacional) to

Universidad de Chile The University of Chile () is a public research university in Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the co ...

, he also joined Chilean club, where he won three league titles and the

2011 Copa Sudamericana The 2011 Copa Sudamericana de Clubes (officially the 2011 Copa Bridgestone Sudamericana de Clubes for sponsorship reasons) was the 10th edition of the Copa Sudamericana, South America's secondary international club football tournament organized ...

title with

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

-based club. However, all of these title was under manager Jorge Sampaoli, who replaced former coach Pelusso after bad results in 2010. Their most important goals with ''The Blues'' were in two derbies against

Colo-Colo Colo-Colo (), officially Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo, is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano, it competes in the Chilean Primera División, from which the club has never been ...

and in a

2010 Copa Libertadores The 2010 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2010 Copa Santander Libertadores for sponsorship reasons) was the 51st edition of the Copa Libertadores de América The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de Améric ...

game too with

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...

, where he scored a last-minute equalizer goal that sealed a 2–2 away draw at Maracanã. He also had serious possibilities of a move to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

because his performances, being heavily linked with Portugal's Benfica in January 2012 after reach Copa Sudamericana title. However, on 29 January 2013, Rodríguez joined Italian Serie A club

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa, Liguria. Sampdoria was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the ...

in a transfer fee a

4.2 million (

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

3.28 million).U.C. Sampdoria S.p.A. ''bilancio'' (financial report and accounts) on 31 December 2013
PDF purchased from Italian C.C.I.A.A.
/ref> He signed a -year contract. On 30 May 2014, Rodríguez was loaned from Serie A side Sampdoria to Grêmio until June 2015. On 19 July 2015 Rodríguez was re-signed by

. On March 8, 2021, it was made official Rodríguez joined Argentine club

Defensa y Justicia Club Social y Deportivo Defensa y Justicia, commonly known as Defensa y Justicia, is an Argentine football club from Florencio Varela, Buenos Aires, established in 1935.

, arriving to

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

by first time in his career. In June 2022, he decided to leave the football activity after ending his contract with Defensa y Justicia, stating his desire of working as a sport manager. In January 2024, he returned to professional football by signing with

in the

Segunda División Profesional de Chile Segunda División Profesional del Fútbol Profesional Chileno () is the third level of Chilean football league system, since the season 2012, is organized by the Asociación Nacional de Fútbol Profesional. The Chilean ''Segunda División Profe ...

International career

In June 2012, Rodríguez was selected by Alejandro Sabella for the Argentina national team as part of the squad for the matchday 5 of the

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA#Structure, FIFA confederations. The 2014 FIFA World Cup featured 32 teams, with one place reserved for the host nation, Brazil national football team, Bra ...

against

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

, as well as an International Friendly against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. He was only a substitute in both matches. Later, Rodríguez was selected again in October 2012 for the matchday 10 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 ...

, where he did not play either.

Personal life

In February 2022, he acquired the Chilean nationality by residence, keeping the Argentine nationality.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Club

;

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

Uruguayan Primera División The Liga Profesional de Primera División (American Spanish , , local: , ''First Division''), named "Torneo Uruguayo Copa Coca-Cola" for sponsorship reasons, is the highest professional Association football, football league in Uruguay organized b ...

: 2008–09 ;

Chilean Primera División The Chilean Primera División () is a professional association football league in Chile and the highest level of the Chilean football league system. Founded in 1933, it is organized by the Asociación Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (ANFP). The l ...

: 2011 Apertura, 2011 Clausura, 2012 Apertura, 2016–17 Clausura *

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 ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Copa Chile The Copa Chile (''Chile Cup'') is an annual cup competition for Chilean football teams. Due to time constraints and club pressure, the trophy was cancelled in 2000, but returned in 2008. Its precursor was the Campeonato de Apertura (''Opening Ch ...

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 ...

Supercopa de Chile The Supercopa de Chile (''Supercup of Chile'') is an annual one-match football official competition in Chile organised by the Asociación Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (ANFP). This competition serves as the season opener and is played between t ...

Individual

XI:

CONMEBOL CONMEBOL ( ) or CSF (; ; ), is the continental governing body of football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations. The oldest continental confederation in the world, its headquarters are located in Luque, Parag ...

XI: 2012

References

External links

*
Matías Rodríguez
at Football-Lineups * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Matias Living people 1986 births Argentine men's footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Footballers from San Luis Province Naturalized citizens of Chile Chilean men's footballers 21st-century Chilean sportsmen Boca Juniors footballers S.D. Aucas footballers LASK players Club Nacional de Football players Club Universidad de Chile footballers UC Sampdoria players Grêmio FBPA players Defensa y Justicia footballers Deportes Melipilla footballers Ecuadorian Serie A players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Uruguayan Primera División players Chilean Primera División players Serie A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Argentine Primera División players Segunda División Profesional de Chile players Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Ecuador Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Austria Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Uruguay Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Chile Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Expatriate men's footballers in Ecuador Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in Uruguay Expatriate men's footballers in Chile Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Copa Sudamericana–winning players Men's association football midfielders Men's association football defenders 21st-century Argentine sportsmen