Roger Ibañez da Silva (born 23 November 1998) is a Brazilian 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 lea ...

who plays mainly as a

centre-back 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

Saudi Pro League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

club Al-Ahli and the Brazil national team. Mainly a

, he can also play as a defensive-midfielder.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Canela, Rio Grande do Sul Canela (), meaning ''Cinnamon'' in Portuguese, is a town located in the Serra Gaúcha of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Both Canela and neighboring Gramado are important tourist locations and they both draw many visitors each year. Ecotourism is ve ...

to a Uruguayan mother, Ibañez only started his career in 2016, aged 18, at . Playing 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 ...

, he joined later in that year, and made his senior debut during the 2016 Copa Serrana, which was the club's first professional competition. On 5 December 2016, Ibañez signed for

Sergipe Sergipe (), officially State of Sergipe, is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil. Located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region along the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the country, Sergipe is the smallest state in Brazil by geogra ...

on loan for the season. The following 4 March, however, after featuring rarely, he was recalled. Upon returning, he became a regular starter during PRS'

Campeonato Gaúcho Série B The Campeonato Gaúcho Série B is the third tier of the professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. It is run by the Rio Grande do Sul Football Federation (FGF). List of champions Notes *Ulbra is the cu ...

campaign.

Fluminense

In the middle of 2017, Ibañez joined

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club () is a Brazilian sports club based in the neighbourhood of Laranjeiras, in Rio de Janeiro, being the oldest football club in the state since its foundation in 1902. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, th ...

and was initially assigned to the under-20 squad. Promoted to the first team for the 2018 season by manager

Abel Braga Abel Carlos da Silva Braga (born 1 September 1952), known as Abel Braga, is a Brazilian former football coach and player. He played as a central defender during a professional career that started with Fluminense in 1968. He earned one cap f ...

, he made his professional debut on 20 January 2018, starting in a 0–0

Campeonato Carioca The Campeonato Carioca (Carioca Championship), officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro State Championship), also commonly known as the Cariocão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Br ...

home draw against

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 ...

. On 28 February 2018, Ibãnez had his federative rights purchased by ''Flu'', and he signed a new five-year deal with the club. He made his Série A debut on 15 April, starting in a 2–1 away loss against

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians () is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-author, Sosthenes, and is addressed to the Christian church in C ...

, and finished the campaign with 14 league appearances.

Atalanta

On 29 January 2019, Ibañez signed with Italian club

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

. Having been inserted in the squad in February, he received his debut on 11 May, coming on for the final few minutes of their 2–1 victory over

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

. He replaced attacker Josip Iličić as the club was in the heat of battle for a top-four Serie A finish and

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

qualification for the first time in their history, which they eventually achieved. Ibañez made his first appearance the following season on the final day of Atalanta's group stage campaign in the Champions League. Needing a win away to

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk () is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club that was based in the city of Donetsk until 2014 when, due to the War in Donbas (2014–2022), War in Donbas, the club was forced to move to Lvi ...

, Ibañez came on for centre-forward

Luis Muriel Luis Fernando Muriel Fruto (born 16 April 1991) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Major League Soccer club Orlando City. Having started his professional career with Colombian side Deportivo Cali, Muriel joined ...

for the final 20 minutes with Atalanta leading 1–0 and having previously abandoned their regular back three for a back four while in search of the winning goal. Ibañez had only been included in one of the previous five match day squads, but the suspension of Rafael Toloi and an injury to

Simon Kjær Simon Thorup Kjær (; born 26 March 1989) is a Danish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a centre-back. Kjær was named 2007 Danish Football Player of the Year#Young Players of the Year, Danish under-19 talent o ...

paved the way for his inclusion. Atalanta would win the game 0–3, qualifying for the knockout stage.

Roma

On 27 January 2020, Ibañez moved to follow Serie A club

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

and signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with the club. The transfer was initially a loan until 30 June 2021, set to convert to a permanent transfer for a predetermined fee of €8 million if certain conditions were met. On 4 March 2021, he signed a new long-term deal with Roma until 30 June 2025.

Al-Ahli

On 10 August 2023, Roger Ibañez joined Saudi club Al-Ahli on a permanent transfer, for a reported fee of €30m including bonuses. On 18 August, he scored his first goal for the club in a 3–1 away victory against Khaleej Club.

International career

On 9 September 2022, Ibañez received his first call up to the Brazil national team, for friendlies 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 ...

and

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

. He made his debut against Tunisia on 27 September, in a 5–1 win.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Roma *

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

: 2021–22 *

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

runner-up:

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Al-Ahli *

AFC Champions League Elite The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

: 2024–25 Individual *

Player of the Month: April 2025

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ibanez, Roger 1998 births Living people Footballers from Rio Grande do Sul Brazilian people of Uruguayan descent Sportspeople of Uruguayan descent Brazilian men's footballers Brazil men's international footballers Men's association football central defenders Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Club Sportivo Sergipe players Fluminense FC players Serie A players Saudi Pro League players Atalanta BC players AS Roma players Al-Ahli Saudi FC players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy UEFA Conference League–winning players AFC Champions League Elite–winning players Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen