Baltasar Luis Gallego Rodríguez (born 9 July 2003) is an Argentine

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 lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Inter Miami CF Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami (), commonly referred to as Inter Miami, is an American professional soccer club based in the Miami metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (M ...

, on loan from

Racing Club de Avellaneda Racing Club () is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Avellaneda, Argentina. They compete in the Argentine Primera División, Primera División, the top tier of Argentine football league system, Argentine f ...

Club career

Born in

Monte Hermoso Monte Hermoso is a town located on the Atlantic coast of Argentina, some east of the city of Bahía Blanca, in the south of the Buenos Aires Province, Province of Buenos Aires. It is the administrative seat of the Partidos of Buenos Aires, partid ...

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province an ...

, Rodríguez joined the youth ranks of

from his hometown club in 2019. His

agent Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuran ...

Robert Pires Robert Emmanuel Pires (born 29 October 1973) is a French former professional footballer. He is widely regarded as one of Arsenal's greatest ever players and considered by some to be one of the best wingers in the history of the sport. Pires play ...

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

champion with the

France national football team The France national football team () represents France in men's international Association football, football. It is controlled by the French Football Federation (FFF; ), the governing body for football in France. It is a member of UEFA in Euro ...

. In August 2022, Rodríguez signed his first professional contract to tie himself to Racing until the end of 2026, with a

release clause A buyout clause or release clause refers to a clause in an employment contract. It allows the employee to terminate the contract unilaterally upon payment of a specified (usually substantial) fee to the employer. The fee may be paid by the employ ...

of €20 million. He made his debut in the

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

on 8 May 2023 in a 4–2 home loss to

Talleres de Córdoba Club Atlético Talleres (; ), mostly known simply as Talleres ( in Rioplatense Spanish, Rioplatense accent and or in Cordobés Spanish, Cordobés accent; ), is an Football in Argentina, Argentine professional sports club based in the city of C ...

; he came on as a 55th-minute substitute for Gabriel Hauche and became the first top-flight player from his town. His continental bow came on 8 June in a 2–1

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

group loss to

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...

in the

Maracanã Stadium Maracanã Stadium (, ; named after the Maracanã River), officially known as Jornalista Mário Filho Stadium (, ; , named after Mário Filho), is an association football stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Located in the Maracanã neighbor ...

. On 19 August he started the game away to

Unión de Santa Fe Club Atlético Unión (; mostly known as Unión de Santa Fe ) is a sports club from Santa Fe, Argentina, Santa Fe, the capital city of the Santa Fe Province, in Argentina. The club was founded on 15 April 1907. Unión is mostly known for its asso ...

and scored his first goal to open a 1–1 draw for the club managed by

Fernando Gago Fernando Rubén Gago (; born 10 April 1986) is an Argentine football Manager (association football), manager and former player. He is the current head coach of Liga MX club Club Necaxa, Necaxa. During his 16-year club career, limited by multiple ...

. He finished his first season with five goals. On 20 August 2024, Rodríguez scored his first continental goal to start a 6–1 win over Chile's

Huachipato FC Huachipato FC is a Chilean football club based in Talcahuano that currently plays in the Chilean Primera División. Huachipato was founded on 7 June 1947 by workers of the homonymous steel mill in Talcahuano, and it currently plays its home g ...

El Cilindro El Cilindro (; , named after its cylindrical structure), officially known as Presidente Perón Stadium (, ; , named after Juan Perón), is an association football stadium in Avellaneda, Argentina. It is the home of Racing. Opened in 1950 on the ...

, putting his side into the quarter-finals of the

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, also known as Copa Sudamericana (; ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL, the governing body of football in South America, since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club com ...

8–1 on aggregate. His team won the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

3–1 over Brazil's Cruzeiro in

Asunción Asunción (, ) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of Asunción in the north ...

, though he was an unused substitute. After winning the

2025 Recopa Sudamericana The 2025 CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana () was the 33rd edition of the Recopa Sudamericana, CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana (also referred to as the ''Recopa Sudamericana''), the association football, football competition organized by CONMEBOL between ...

with Racing over

Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood (''bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of M ...

, Rodríguez moved to

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

on loan. He was signed by

Javier Mascherano Javier Alejandro Mascherano (; born 8 June 1984) is an Argentine Association football, football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Major League Soccer club Inter Miami. As a player, he played as a centre-back or defensive ...

, his former Argentina U-23 manager. He made his debut on 14 May as a half-time substitute for Benjamin Cremaschi, and assisted the equaliser by compatriot Tadeo Allende in a 3–3 draw away to the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

International career

Rodríguez was part of the

Argentina national under-23 football team The Argentina Olympic football team (Argentina U-23 since 1992) represents Argentina in international football competitions during Olympic Games and Pan American Games. The selection is limited to players under the age of 23, except three overage ...

at the

2024 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament The 2024 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament (, ) was the 14th edition of the CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament, the quadrennial, international, age-restricted football tournament organised by the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) to d ...

. He played five games as the team won their group, scoring to begin a 3–3 draw with

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

on 2 February.

Honours

Racing Club *

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana (), also known as Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club Association football, football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1988. It ...

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

References

External links

Baltasar Rodríguez
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Baltasar 2003 births Living people Footballers from Buenos Aires Province Argentine men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Racing Club de Avellaneda footballers Inter Miami CF players Argentine Primera División players Major League Soccer players Argentina men's youth international footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States 21st-century Argentine sportsmen Copa Sudamericana–winning players