Rodrigo Vargas (soccer, Born 1978)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Rodrigo Alejandro "Roddy" Vargas (born 20 October 1978) is an Australian
soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
player who plays as a
central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...
for the
Victorian State League Division 1 The Victorian State League, known as VETO Sports State League for sponsorship purposes is an Australian soccer league based in Victoria that was founded in 1958 and administered by Football Victoria. It consists of five divisions (separated by ...
club
Nunawading City FC Nunawading City Football Club is an Australian semi-professional association football club based in Forest Hill, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1971, the club currently competes in the NPL Victoria 3. History Recent History I ...
, but is mostly known for his time at
Melbourne Victory FC Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under North American professional sports leag ...
, Green Gully Cavaliers and at
Melbourne Knights FC Melbourne Knights Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in the suburb of Sunshine North, Victoria, Sunshine North, Melbourne. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, t ...
, where he was club captain.


Club career

Vargas began his career at the
Victorian Premier League The Victorian Premier League (VPL) is an Australian soccer league based in Victoria that was founded in 2023 and administered by Football Victoria. It consists of two divisions that were named after the VPL's breakaway of the National Premier L ...
side, Springvale City, where he debuted at the age of 17 under Gus McLeod. After three seasons with
Port Melbourne Port Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of the Melbourne central business district, located within the Cities of City of Melbourne, Melbourne and City of Port Phillip, Port Phillip Local government ...
, at the age of 21, he was recruited by
National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...
side
Melbourne Knights FC Melbourne Knights Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in the suburb of Sunshine North, Victoria, Sunshine North, Melbourne. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, t ...
. He had a very successful tenure at the club, playing in over 100 games in five seasons as well as being awarded the captaincy. When the National Soccer League came to an end in 2004, he moved to the Victorian Premier League side Green Gully in 2005, where he developed a reputation as a goal scoring defender from set pieces. Vargas was drafted into
Melbourne Victory FC Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under North American professional sports leag ...
in 2006 after a successful trial, and soon became a key member of the Victory back line. He was the subject in a controversy when he was allegedly called a "black monkey" by the Newcastle United Jets midfielder, Stuart Musialik. Vargas was a key member of the Melbourne Victory team in their first appearance in the
Asian Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious cl ...
in 2008 against Chunnan Dragons at the Telstra Dome. Vargas capped off a great performance with a brilliant goal, the club's second ever in Asia and only the second by Vargas for Melbourne Victory. Vargas was also captain for Melbourne Victory in their pre-season Cup win over Wellington Phoenix on 6 August 2008. On 28 March 2012, it was announced that he had been released from Melbourne Victory after six seasons with the club. Two days later, Green Gully Cavaliers announced that he would rejoin his brother Andy at their club. He played his first match for them the next day. On 23 February 2013, Rodrigo Vargas was charged by the FFV with entering the field of play without permission and directing violent conduct towards an opposing Bentleigh Greens player during a pre-season practice match between Green Gully and Bentleigh. At a tribunal hearing on 13 March 2013 he pleaded guilty and was banned from FFV football until 14 April 2013. Vargas helped Green Gully secure the 2013 Dockerty Cup. After being released by Green Gully after the 2016 season, Vargas joined NPL Victoria 2 side
Dandenong Thunder SC Dandenong Thunder SC is a soccer club from Dandenong, a suburb in the South-East region of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. They are an Albanian Australian-backed club. Thunder compete in the National Premier Leagues Victoria. In 2012, Danden ...
. After his brother Andy was sacked as coach of Thunder in June 2018, Vargas joined FC Bulleen Lions.


International career

Born in Australia, Vargas is of Chilean descent. He was included in the
Australia national football team Australia national soccer team most commonly refers to: * Australia men's national soccer team * Australia women's national soccer team Australia national soccer team may also refer to: * Australia men's national soccer B team * Australia men's nat ...
for the AFC World Cup qualification matches against
Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...
and
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
and an international friendly against
Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
, but did not play his first international game until January 2009 against
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
for an Asian Cup qualification match.


Honours

Melbourne Victory * A-League Championship: 2006-2007, 2008-2009 * A-League Premiership: 2006-2007, 2008-2009 Individual *
Melbourne Victory FC Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under North American professional sports leag ...
Victory Medal: 2007-2008


References


External links


Melbourne Victory profile


{{DEFAULTSORT:Vargas, Rodrigo 1978 births Living people Soccer players from Melbourne Australian people of Chilean descent Sportspeople of Chilean descent Springvale White Eagles FC players Port Melbourne SC players Melbourne Knights FC players Melbourne Victory FC players A-League Men players Australia men's international soccer players National Soccer League (Australia) players National Premier Leagues players Men's association football defenders Australian men's soccer players