Johan Rubén Rodríguez Álvarez (born 15 August 1975) is a Mexican 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 ...

who played as 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 ...

Career

Rodríguez made his football debut in 1996 with Cruz Azul, playing as a tough-tackling defensive midfielder behind international starters

Benjamín Galindo Benjamín Galindo Marentes (born 11 December 1960), nicknamed ''El Maestro'' (The Master), is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He participated with the national team in the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Playing care ...

and

Carlos Hermosillo Carlos Manuel Hermosillo Goytortúa (born 24 August 1964) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is also known as ''El Grandote de Cerro Azul'' ("The big tall one from Cerro Azul"). He is the fifth all-time le ...

. The club won the Invierno 1997 championship and the

CONCACAF Champions Cup The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Americ ...

tournaments of 1996 and 1997. However, it was not until he joined Santos in 1999 that he had major opportunities to demonstrate his skills. Rodríguez helped Santos to a runner-up finish in the Verano 2000 tournament and the league title in the Verano 2001 competition. He joined Necaxa in 2004, and later played for Morelia and Querétaro in the later stages of his career. Rodríguez also represented the

Mexico national team The Mexico national football team () represents Mexico in international football and is governed by the Mexican Football Federation (). It competes as a member of CONCACAF. Mexico has qualified to seventeen World Cups and has qualified conse ...

, earning 17 caps. Although his first appearance came under

Enrique Meza Enrique Meza Enríquez (born 3 March 1948) is a Mexican professional football manager who most recently coached Veracruz. Prior to pursuing a career in coaching, he was a goalkeeper for Cruz Azul during their dynasty of the 1970s, albeit a back ...

in 2000, in a 2–0 loss to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, he is most associated with the era of

Javier Aguirre Javier Aguirre Onaindía (; born 1 December 1958), nicknamed ''El Vasco'' (The Basque), is a Mexican former professional footballer and manager who is currently in charge of Spanish team RCD Mallorca. Aguirre played for Mexico at the 1986 Wo ...

. Rodríguez started in Aguirre's first match in charge of Mexico in 2001, a 1–0 victory over the United States. The result helped turn around a Mexican qualifying effort that had been disastrous up to that point. He scored goals against Liberia and El Salvador in 2001, both in friendly matches, and proceeded to solidify his place in the starting eleven through the

2001 Copa América The 2001 Copa América was held in Colombia, from 11 to 29 July. It was organised by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body. Colombia won the tournament for the 1st time without conceding a goal. Brazil were the defending champions wh ...

and

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...

. Rodríguez's combative style was less valued by Aguirre's successor,

Ricardo Antonio Lavolpe Ricardo Antonio La Volpe Guarchoni (; born 6 February 1952) is an Argentine former professional footballer and manager. He is a World Cup-winning goalkeeper who played for most of his career in Argentina and Mexico. As a coach, La Volpe was in ...

, who preferred

Pável Pardo Pável Pardo Segura (; born 26 July 1976) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Pardo spent most of his career playing with Club América and is the fourth most capped player in the history of the Me ...

in central midfield, and he was not called up again after Aguirre left the coaching post. His last cap came in the World Cup second-round defeat to the United States on June 17, 2002.FIFA
"2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan Match Report - Mexico - USA 0:2"
June 17, 2002. Retrieved on January 17, 2013. After six months out injured and not having kicked a ball, he found it impossible to find a new club and decided instead to concentrate on his private businesses.

Honours

Cruz Azul *Liga MX, Mexican Primera División: Primera División de México Invierno 1997, Invierno 1997 *Copa MX, Copa México: 1996–97 Copa México, 1996–97 *CONCACAF Champions League, CONCACAF Champions' Cup: 1996 CONCACAF Champions' Cup, 1996; 1997 CONCACAF Champions' Cup, 1997 Santos Laguna *Liga MX, Mexican Primera División: Primera División de México Verano 2001, Verano 2001

Career statistics

International goals

, - , 1. , , August 23, 2001 , , Veracruz, Veracruz, Veracruz, Mexico , , , , 5–4 , , Win , , Exhibition game, Friendly , - , 2. , , October 31, 2001 , , Puebla, Puebla, Puebla, Mexico , , , , 4–1 , , Win , , Friendly

External links

*
ProfileSantos Laguna in Spanish

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Joahan 1975 births Living people Footballers from Nuevo León Men's association football midfielders 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2001 Copa América players Mexico men's international footballers Cruz Azul footballers Santos Laguna footballers Club Necaxa footballers Atlético Morelia players Querétaro F.C. footballers Liga MX players Twin sportspeople Mexican twins Footballers from Monterrey Mexican men's footballers