Raquel Rodríguez Cedeño (born 28 October 1993) is a Costa Rican 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 an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

for

Portland Thorns FC The Portland Thorns FC is an American professional women's soccer team based in Portland, Oregon. Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), which receives support from the Uni ...

of the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...

and the Costa Rica women's national team.

Early life

Born in

San José, Costa Rica San José (; meaning "Saint Joseph") is the capital and largest city of Costa Rica, and the capital of the province of the same name. It is in the center of the country, in the mid-west of the Central Valley, within San José Canton. San ...

to Sivianni Rodriguez and Grettel Cedeño, Rodriguez, nicknamed Rocky, was raised in Costa Rica and moved to the United States where support for women's soccer offered more opportunity. Her father, Sivianni Rodríguez, played professionally in Costa Rica with

Herediano Club Sport Herediano (), commonly known as Herediano and nicknamed El Team, is a Costa Rican multisport club based in Heredia, Heredia province. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Herediano is mostly known for its association ...

and the

Costa Rica national football team The Costa Rica national football team ( es, Selección de fútbol de Costa Rica) represents Costa Rica in men's international football. The national team is administered by the Costa Rican Football Federation (FEDEFUTBOL), the governing body fo ...

. Rodriquez began playing soccer at age four and played on boys teams and trained with her brother and father as a youth. At age 11, her cousin told her one of the well-known men's club teams was holding tryouts for a women's team. After trying out, she played for the team's under-15 team. She played for the high school team while still attending elementary school. Both Raquel and her brother, Sivianni, attended International Christian School. She played for the school's team for a short while before committing to play for Costa Rica's national teams.

Penn State, 2012–2015

Rodriguez was a four-year starter for the

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The interco ...

. As the 2015 team captain, she led her team to victory at the NCAA College Cup by scoring the game-winning goal against the

Duke Blue Devils The Duke Blue Devils are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Duke University, located in Durham, North Carolina. Duke's athletics department features 27 varsity teams that all compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Associatio ...

. Rodriguez received numerous awards in 2015, including NSCAA Scholar Player of the Year, Top Drawer Soccer Player of the Year, and she was the 2015 recipient of the Mac Herman Trophy. As a senior, she won the

Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in th ...

as the nation's top soccer player.

Club career

Sky Blue FC, 2016–2019

Rodríguez was selected second overall by

Sky Blue FC NJ/NY Gotham FC is a professional women's soccer team based in Harrison, New Jersey. Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sky Blue FC from 2008 until 2020. A founding member of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in 2013 ...

in the 2016 NWSL College Draft. In her rookie season, she scored 1 goal in 18 matches, and at the end of the season was named NWSL Rookie of the Year. In the 2017 season, Rodríguez scored the fastest goal in NWSL history, netting 24 seconds from kick-off against

Perth Glory, 2017

On 12 October 2017, Rodríguez joined

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues. Founded in 19 ...

for the

2017–18 W-League The 2017–18 W-League season was the tenth season of the W-League, the Australian national women's association football competition. Clubs Stadia and locations Personnel and kits Managerial changes Transfers Foreign players The ...

season. Rodríguez is the first Central American ever to play in the W-League.

Portland Thorns FC

On 8 January 2020, Rodríguez was traded to

International career

During the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the ...

, Rodriguez scored

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

's first ever Women's World Cup goal during the opening Group Stage match against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, which ended 1–1. Rodriguez played in all of Costa Rica's three matches in the tournament. During the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying tournament, Rodriguez scored five goals in the three group stage matches.

International goals

Honors and awards

Club

* NWSL Community Shield:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

NWSL Challenge Cup The NWSL Challenge Cup, currently known as the UKG NWSL Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tournament organized by the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top-tier women's league in the United States soccer league system. Th ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

International Champions Cup The International Champions Cup (ICC) was an annual club association football exhibition competition. In 2020, it was abolished due to COVID-19 pandemic. Format The format has changed in each competition. Subsequent tournaments have had diffe ...

* NWSL Shield: 2021 *

NWSL Championship The National Women's Soccer League Playoffs (or NWSL Playoffs) are a single elimination tournament among six teams in the National Women's Soccer League of the United States, deciding the winner of the NWSL Championship. Since playoff games can ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Individual

* NWSL Rookie of the Year:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

References

External links

*
Profile
at Fedefutbol * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Raquel 1993 births Living people Women's association football forwards Costa Rican women's footballers Footballers from San José, Costa Rica Costa Rica women's international footballers 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players Pan American Games bronze medalists for Costa Rica Pan American Games medalists in football Footballers at the 2019 Pan American Games Footballers at the 2011 Pan American Games Footballers at the 2015 Pan American Games Central American Games gold medalists for Costa Rica Central American Games medalists in football Penn State Nittany Lions women's soccer players Hermann Trophy women's winners NJ/NY Gotham FC draft picks National Women's Soccer League players NJ/NY Gotham FC players A-League Women players Perth Glory FC (A-League Women) players Costa Rican expatriate footballers Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate women's soccer players in Australia Portland Thorns FC players Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games