Rodrigo Ferrante Taddei (born 6 March 1980) is a retired Brazilian

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 ...

. Though primarily a

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 ...

, Taddei was notable for his versatility on the field. During his career he has played in every

position Position often refers to: * Position (geometry), the spatial location (rather than orientation) of an entity * Position, a job or occupation Position may also refer to: Games and recreation * Position (poker), location relative to the dealer * ...

except

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. Once Taddei even played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

Palmeiras Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes. Palmeiras is one of the most popular clubs in South America, with around ...

, when the team's usual starting goalkeeper was sent off.

Club career

Early career

He started his career in Brazil with

, then moved to Italy in September 2002 and signing for

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

, a then

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

team, which later earned promotion to

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

. After another season with Siena, Taddei left on a Bosman free transfer and signed a five-year contract with

A.S. Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

on 3 June 2005. He earned a gross salary of €1.75M in the first season and €2.23M in the next 4 seasons.

Roma

After joining Roma prior to the 2005–06 season, Taddei made his debut on 28 August 2005 in a 3–0 win away to

Reggina Reggina 1914 S.r.l., commonly referred to as Reggina, is an Italian football club based in Reggio Calabria. Founded in 1914, they currently play in Serie B, and play their home matches at the 27,763 seater Stadio Oreste Granillo. They are n ...

in Serie A. Taddei got his first taste of European football, helping Roma to the last 16 of the 2005–06 UEFA Cup, going out to

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

on away goals. Taddei ended his first season with 9 goals in 53 games in all competitions. Taddei received some attention after he performed a move he later titled "The Aurelio", named after

assistant manager

Aurelio Andreazzoli Aurelio Andreazzoli (born 5 November 1953) is an Italian football coach. He is currently the head coach of club Ternana. Career In 2005, Andreazzoli joined Roma to become head coach Luciano Spalletti's assistant coach, becoming a valuable p ...

, in a Champions League group stage match against

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

on 18 October 2006. On 23 December 2006, he scored an acrobatic goal in a 2–0 win over

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...

. On 4 April 2007, he scored the opening goal in Roma's 2–1 victory over

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

in the first leg of the

2006–07 UEFA Champions League The 2006–07 UEFA Champions League was the 15th season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, the UEFA Champions League, since it was rebranded from the European Cup, and the 52nd season overall. The final was contested by Milan ...

quarter-finals. Taddei missed the second leg through injury, as Roma lost 7–1 at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

. The Brazilian ended the 2006–07 by winning his first trophy, helping Roma to the 2006–07 Coppa Italia, a trophy Roma would retain the following season, beating

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is t ...

on both occasions. On 5 March 2008, he scored a goal in a 2–1 away win over

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

in the

2007–08 UEFA Champions League The 2007–08 UEFA Champions League was the 16th season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, the UEFA Champions League, since it was rebranded in 1992, and the 53rd tournament overall. The final was played on 21 May 2008 at the L ...

round of 16, in which Roma qualified to play another quarter-final against Manchester United. On 21 February 2009, he scored a goal in a 1–0 win against his former club Siena. On 7 June 2010, Roma announced that Taddei had signed a new 4-year contract in which he would earn a gross annual salary of €2.8M in the first three years and €1.9M in the last year. 27 January 2011, he scored in a 2–0 win over

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

in the 2010–11 Coppa Italia quarter-finals. However, he scored one goal in 24 matches in 2011–12 season. In 2012–13 season, he continued to play as a full-back under Zdeněk Zeman. However, he finished the season with just 6 matches in all competitions. New coach

Rudi Garcia Rudi José Garcia (; ; born 20 February 1964) is a French professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Saudi Professional League club Al Nassr. Early life Rudi Garcia's father, José, was a Spanish expatriate who played ...

moved him back to midfield during the season 2013–2014 he scored 2 goals with a total of 20 appearances for Roma, his goal against

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

on 2 April 2014 was his first Roma goal since December 2011. Just two games later Taddei scored his final Roma goal, opening the scoring in the 3–1 victory over

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene and who is primarily known ...

. At the end of the season, the club and the Brazilian footballer didn't reach an agreement for a contract renewal and Taddei left Roma after 9 years, playing almost 300 games and scoring 31 times in all competitions.

Perugia

On 21 July 2014, after having been a free agent for two months, Taddei signed a contract with

A.C. Perugia Calcio Associazione Calcistica Perugia Calcio, or simply Perugia, is a professional football club based in Perugia, Umbria, Italy, that competes in the . Founded in 1905 as Associazione Calcistica Perugia, the club folded in 2005 and were re-founded t ...

. Taddei scored his first goal for Perugia in the 2–0 win against FeralpiSalò in the second round of the

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

. Taddei scored his first Serie B goal in the 2–2 draw with

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a th ...

on 20 September, keeping Perugia top of the Serie B table.

International career

Taddei has never been capped by the Brazil national team but, thanks to his Italian

citizenship Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

, he is also eligible to play for

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. He is in fact an

Italian Brazilian Italian Brazilians ( it, italo-brasiliani, pt, ítalo-brasileiros) are Brazilians of full or partial Italian descent. Italian Brazilians are the largest number of people with full or partial Italian ancestry outside Italy, with São Paulo being ...

, his great-grandparents were from

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...

and

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

. In February 2009, he publicly stated that he would accept a call from Marcello Lippi.

Personal life

In late 2003, Taddei was seriously injured in a car accident. His younger brother Leonardo died in the accident and his teammate

Pinga In Inuit religion, Pinga ("the one who is p onhigh") is a goddess of the hunt and medicine. She is heavily associated with the sky. Caribou Inuit tradition In Caribou Inuit communities, Pinga had some authority over caribou herds. She became a ...

was also hurt. Upon recovery, Taddei returned to playing for Siena.

Honours

Roma *

: 2006–07, 2007–08 *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seaso ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taddei, Rodrigo 1980 births Living people Brazilian footballers Brazilian people of Italian descent Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras players A.C.N. Siena 1904 players A.S. Roma players A.C. Perugia Calcio players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Serie A players Serie B players Expatriate footballers in Italy Brazilian expatriate footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Association football utility players Association football fullbacks Association football wingers Footballers from São Paulo