Sergio Rodríguez García (born 17 August 1984), commonly known as Rodri, is a Spanish 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 le ...

who played as a central defender.

Club career

Born in Mataró, Barcelona, Catalonia, Rodri was a product of FC Barcelona's youth system. He played only two La Liga games with the first team over the course of two seasons, his first being on 11 December 2004 in a 2–1 away win against Albacete Balompié (three minutes played), and ''Barça'' were eventually crowned back-to-back champions in his second year, although he was mainly registered with the B-side. During the summer of 2006, Rodri was purchased by

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

's Deportivo de La Coruña, making just six competitive appearances for the main squad in two seasons. In January 2007, he was loaned to second division club UD Almería, playing the entire 2007–08 campaign with

Polideportivo Ejido Poli Ejido 2012 Sociedad Deportiva was a Spanish football team based in El Ejido, Province of Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1969 and dissolved in 2012, it held home matches at ''Estadio Municipal Santo Domingo'', ...

, also in that tier and in Andalusia. Rodri was again loaned by ''Depor'' in September 2008, joining Portuguese

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

team

C.S. Marítimo Club Sport Marítimo MH M, commonly known as Marítimo ( locally ), is a Portuguese sports club founded in Funchal, Madeira, in 1910. Marítimo is best known for its football team playing in Portugal's top-flight competition, the Primeira Liga. ...

. However, not having been used during his brief spell, he returned to A Coruña, moving in January 2009 to another Spanish division two side, UD Salamanca. In late July 2009, Rodri was released by Deportivo and stayed in the second tier, signing a 1+1 contract with

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football team in Alicante, in the autonomous community of Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 3 and plays its hom ...

. In his first year he experienced his best season as a professional, scoring four goals in 38 matches as the

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in th ...

club returned to the top flight after a 13-year absence. Rodri appeared in 13 games for Hércules in

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, mainly due to injury or suspension to habitual starters

Abraham Paz Abraham Paz Cruz (born 29 June 1979) is a Spanish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a central defender, currently Manager (association football), manager of St Joseph's F.C., St Joseph's in the Gibraltar National ...

and

Noé Pamarot Noé Elias Pamarot (born 14 April 1979) is a French former professional footballer who played as a central defender. Before moving to Spain, Pamarot played for Portsmouth in the Premier League. He is a right-footed defender who is also known for ...

. In March 2011, he moved to FC Spartak Moscow in Russia for

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

400,000, signing a one-year deal. After his contract ended, Rodri left Spartak. On 31 August 2012, he returned to his homeland and joined Rayo Vallecano. After two years in the

Belgian First Division B The Challenger Pro League (previously known as ''1B Pro League'') is the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian First Division A. It was created by the Royal Belgian Football Association in 201 ...

with

K.A.S. Eupen K.A.S. Eupen (short for Königliche Allgemeine Sportvereinigung Eupen, English: ''Royal General Sports Association Eupen'', simply referred to as Eupen) is a Belgian professional association football club located in Eupen, Province of Liège, whi ...

, he resumed his career in the Spanish lower leagues.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodri 1984 births Living people People from Mataró Footballers from the Province of Barcelona Spanish men's footballers Men's association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players FC Barcelona C players FC Barcelona Atlètic players FC Barcelona players Deportivo de La Coruña players UD Almería players Polideportivo Ejido footballers UD Salamanca players Hércules CF players Rayo Vallecano players CF Badalona Futur players CE L'Hospitalet players C.S. Marítimo players Russian Premier League players FC Spartak Moscow players Challenger Pro League players K.A.S. Eupen players Spain men's youth international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Russia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium