Rodrigo Andrés Ríos Rodríguez (born

Santiago, Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital (political), capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated Regions of Chile, region, t ...

) is a Chilean former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

midfielder A midfielder is an 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 central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

now serving as assistant coach for

Austin FC Austin FC is an American professional soccer club based in Austin, Texas. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 2018, the club began play in the 2021 season. Their home stadium is Q2 ...

Club career

In 1987, Ríos joined the Universidad Católica youth system. In February 1996, he entered his first game with the Catolica first team in the

Primera División de Chile Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera Alí Rafael Primera Rosel ...

. In 2001, he moved to

Everton de Viña del Mar Everton de Viña del Mar is a Chilean football club based in the city of Viña del Mar. The club was founded 24 June 1909 after a group of Anglo-Chilean teenagers formed a football club and named it after the English team Everton who had re ...

before moving to

Palestino Club Deportivo Palestino is a professional football club based in the city of Santiago, Chile. The club was founded in 1920 and plays in the Primera División de Chile. They play their home games at the Estadio Municipal de La Cisterna stadium ...

in 2002. From 2003 to 2004, he played for

Unión Española Club Unión Española S.A.D.P. is a professional association football, football club based in the Independencia, Chile, Independencia neighborhood, commune of Santiago, Chile. They currently participate in the Chilean Primera Division, Primera D ...

. In 2005, he moved to the United States where he signed with the

Atlanta Silverbacks The Atlanta Silverbacks FC were an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1998 as Atlanta Ruckus, the club played in many leagues over the years before folding after the 2015 season. The team played its home game ...

in the

USL First Division The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system b ...

. He was a 2005 and 2006 second team All Star. The Silverbacks withdrew from the league following the 2008 season.

International

In 1996, Ríos earned eight

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

with the Chilean U-20 national team. In 2000, he played six games, scoring one goal, with the U-23 team during qualification for the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

. However, he was not selected for the final roster.

Coaching

The Silverbacks club re-emerged in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

for the 2011 season. In preparation, the Silverbacks hired Ríos as Director of Soccer on December 18, 2010. In 2012, Rios started coaching Youth Soccer at Norcross Soccer Academy, he was awarded Girls Academy "Coach of the year" for the state of Georgia in 2013. He currently is USSF 'A' License Coach. In June 2016, he joined Atlanta United as an Academy Coach. Since 2021, he has performed as the assistant coach for

in the

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

References

External links

Atlanta Silverbacks Player Profile

Meet the Players

Rodrigo Rios , Austin FC

Rodrigo Ríos
at CeroaCero {{DEFAULTSORT:Rios, Rodrigo 1977 births Living people Footballers from Santiago Chilean footballers Chilean expatriate footballers Chile under-20 international footballers Club Deportivo Universidad Católica footballers Everton de Viña del Mar footballers Club Deportivo Palestino footballers Unión Española footballers Atlanta Silverbacks players Tercera División de Chile players Chilean Primera División players USL First Division players Association football midfielders Chilean football managers Chilean expatriate football managers Atlanta United FC non-playing staff Austin FC non-playing staff Chilean expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate soccer managers in the United States