Rocky Rodríguez Explained

Rocky Rodríguez
Fullname:Raquel Rodríguez Cedeño[1]
Birth Date:1993 10, df=yes
Birth Place:San José, Costa Rica
Position:Forward, Midfielder
Currentclub:Angel City FC
Clubnumber:7
Collegeyears1:2012–2015
College1:Penn State Nittany Lions
Collegecaps1:93
Collegegoals1:23
Years1:2016–2019
Clubs1:Sky Blue FC
Caps1:76
Goals1:8
Years2:2017–2018
Clubs2:Perth Glory (loan)
Caps2:9
Goals2:0
Years3:2020–2023
Clubs3:Portland Thorns
Caps3:56
Goals3:6
Nationalyears1:2008–2010
Nationalteam1:Costa Rica U17
Nationalcaps1:3
Nationalgoals1:3
Nationalyears2:2008–2012
Nationalteam2:Costa Rica U20
Nationalcaps2:14
Nationalgoals2:10
Nationalyears3:2008–
Nationalteam3:Costa Rica
Nationalcaps3:107
Nationalgoals3:58
Club-Update:20 August 2024
Ntupdate:18 June 2020
Years4:2024–
Clubs4:Angel City FC
Caps4:13
Goals4:1

Raquel "Rocky" Rodríguez Cedeño (born 28 October 1993) is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Angel City FC of the National Women's Soccer League and the Costa Rica national team.

Early life

Born in San José, Costa Rica to Grettel Cedeño and Sivianni Rodriguez.[2] Rodriguez, nicknamed Rocky, was raised in Costa Rica and moved to the United States where support for women's soccer offered more opportunity.[3] [4] Her father, Sivianni Rodríguez, played professionally in Costa Rica with Herediano and the Costa Rica men's national team.[5]

Rodriquez began playing soccer at age four and played on boys teams and trained with her brother and father as a youth. At age 11, her cousin told her one of the well-known men's club teams was holding tryouts for a women's team. After trying out, she played for the under-15 team.[5] She played for the high school team while still attending elementary school.[5] Both Raquel and her brother, Sivianni, attended International Christian School.[5] She played for the school's team for a short while before committing to play for Costa Rica's national teams.[5]

Penn State, 2012–2015

Rodriguez was a four-year starter for the Penn State Nittany Lions.[2] As the 2015 team captain, she led her team to victory at the NCAA College Cup by scoring the game-winning goal against the Duke Blue Devils.[6] Rodriguez received numerous awards in 2015, including NSCAA Scholar Player of the Year, Top Drawer Soccer Player of the Year, and she was the 2015 recipient of the Hermann Trophy.[2] As a senior, she won the Honda Sports Award as the nation's top soccer player.[7] [8]

Club career

Sky Blue FC, 2016–2019

Rodríguez was selected second overall by Sky Blue FC in the 2016 NWSL College Draft.[9] In her rookie season, she scored 1 goal in 18 matches, and at the end of the season was named NWSL Rookie of the Year.[10] In the 2017 season, Rodríguez scored the fastest goal in NWSL history, netting 24 seconds from kick-off against Portland Thorns FC.[11]

Perth Glory, 2017

On 12 October 2017, Rodríguez joined Perth Glory for the 2017–18 W-League season. Rodríguez is the first Central American ever to play in the W-League.[12]

Portland Thorns FC, 2020–2023

On 8 January 2020, Rodríguez was traded to Portland Thorns FC.[13] During the 2020 season, Rodriguez scored 1 goal. During the 2021 season, she scored 2 goals. During the 2022 season, she scored 3 goals. [14]

Angel City FC, 2024–

On January 23, 2024, Angel City FC announced they had acquired Rodríguez from the Portland Thorns in exchange for $275,000 in allocation money, with additional conditional funds to be paid against the transfer fee threshold.[15] After missing the first two games of the season due to concussion protocol, Rodríguez made her debut for Angel City on March 30, 2024 in a match against Kansas City Current. She came on a substitute for Amandine Henry and came close to scoring her first goal for Angel City to tie the game at 3–3, but was the goal was ultimately disallowed after a VAR check, and the match ended as a 4–2 defeat.[16] Rodríguez started her first match the following match day on April 13, 2024 against the Chicago Red Stars which finished as a 0–1 victory, the teams first win of the season.[17] Rodríguez scored her first goal for Angel City on June 19, 2024, in a 3–2 victory against Racing Louisville FC.[18]

International career

During the 2015 FIFA World Cup, Rodriguez scored Costa Rica's first ever Women's World Cup goal during the opening Group Stage match against Spain, which ended 1–1.[19] [20] Rodriguez played in all of Costa Rica's three matches in the tournament.[21] During the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying tournament, Rodriguez scored five goals in the three group stage matches.[22]

Rodriguez was selected for the roster for the inaugural 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup where she played every minute before Costa Rica were ultimately defeated in the quarterfinals by Canada.[23]

Career statistics

International goals

No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 30 April 2010 1–0 2–0 2010 CONCACAF Women's World Cup Qualifying qualification
2. 30 October 2010 Estadio Quintana Roo, Cancún, Mexico 2–0 3–0 2010 CONCACAF Women's Championship
3. 3–0
4. 2 October 2011 1–2 6–2 2012 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament
5. 2–2
6. 4 October 2011 4–0 4–0
7. 6 October 2011 1–0 5–2
8. 2–1
9. 4–2
10. 22 October 2011 2–3 3–3 2011 Pan American Games
11. 6 March 2013 Estadio Ernesto Rohrmoser, San José, Costa Rica 1–0 14–0 2013 Central American Games
12. 2–0
13. 4–0
14. 7–0
15. 8 March 2013 3–0 3–0
16. 10 March 2013 1–0 3–1
17. 12 March 2013 2–0 3–0
18. 22 May 2014 Estadio Mateo Flores, Guatemala City, Guatemala 2–0 4–0 2014 CONCACAF Women's Championship qualification
19. 24 May 2014 1–0 3–0
20. 26 May 2014 2–0 3–0
21. 3–0
22. 18 October 2014 Toyota Park, Bridgeview, United States 2–1 2–1 2014 CONCACAF Women's Championship
23. 9 June 2015 Olympic Stadium, Montreal, Canada 1–1 1–1 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup
24. 13 February 2016 Toyota Stadium, Frisco, United States 2–0 9–0 2016 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Championship
25. 6–0
26. 9–0
27. 15 February 2016 1–0 2–1
28. 2–0
29. 19 February 2016 BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, United States 1–2 1–3
30. 27 August 2018 IMG Academy, Bradenton, United States 6–0 11–0 2018 CONCACAF Women's Championship qualification
31. 29 August 2018 2–0 4–1
32. 31 August 2018 1–0 3–1
33. 2–0
34. 31 July 2019 1–1 3–1 2019 Pan American Games
35. 3–1
36. 8 October 2019 Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, Alajuela, Costa Rica 1–0 5–0
37. 2–0
38. 28 January 2020 BBVA Stadium, Houston, United States 2–0 6–1 2020 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Championship
39. 31 January 2020 1–0 2–0
40. 2–0
41. 30 November 2021 Estadio Nacional, San José, Costa Rica 4–2 5–2 Friendly
42. 17 February 2022 6–0 7–0 2022 CONCACAF W Championship qualification
43. 20 February 2022 2–0 6–0
44. 4–0
45. 9 April 2022 1–0 4–0
46. 2–0
47. 4–0
48. 5 July 2022 Estadio BBVA, Guadalupe, Mexico 1–0 3–0 2022 CONCACAF W Championship
49. 11 October 2022 Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá, San José, Costa Rica 1–1 2–1 Friendly
50. 6 April 2023 1–1 2–1
51. 25 September 2023 Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, Alajuela, Costa Rica 3–0 11–0 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup qualification
52. 8–0
53. 4 December 2023 11–0 19–0
54. 6 April 2024 Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, Alajuela, Costa Rica 1–0 5–1 Friendly

Honors and awards

Penn State Nittany Lions

Portland Thorns FC

Individual

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: List of Players – 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup . . 18 June 2015.
  2. News: Raquel Rodríguez Bio . GoPSUsports.com . Penn State Athletics . 29 November 2017 . 23 October 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171023235249/http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/w-soccer/mtt/raquel_rodriguez_815067.html . dead .
  3. News: Raquel 'Rocky' Rodriguez has plans beyond soccer . Pennsylvania State University . 29 November 2017.
  4. News: Women's soccer: How Sky Blue's Raquel Rodríguez fought for a dream for all of Costa Rica . 1 May 2017 . Excelle Sports . 29 November 2017.
  5. Web site: Raquel Rodríguez's journey to the NWSL anything but typical . Allison . Lee . . Once A Metro . 24 May 2016.
  6. Web site: Penn State wins the 2015 DI Women's Soccer Championship . NCAA.com . 16 January 2016.
  7. Web site: Rodriguez nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year News, Sports, Jobs. The Express. 2020-03-20.
  8. Raquel Rodríguez of Penn State Named Honda Sports Award Winner for Women's Soccer . 23 December 2015 . CWSA . 29 March 2020.
  9. Web site: Sky Blue's Raquel Rodriguez - A Dream Comes True . Diane . Scavuzzo . GoalNation . 31 January 2016 . 12 October 2017 . 13 October 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171013020046/http://goalnation.com/nwsl-college-draft-round-1-pick-2-raquel-rodriguez/ . dead.
  10. News: Raquel Rodriguez voted NWSL Rookie of the Year . . 3 October 2016 . 12 October 2017 . 13 October 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171013014047/https://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/news/raquel-rodriguez-nwsl-rookie-year-sky-blue . dead.
  11. Web site: Sky Blue FC's Raquel Rodriguez goal confirmed as fastest in NWSL history . Nick . Forrester . Excelle Sports . 21 June 2017 . 12 October 2017 . 14 October 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171014122257/http://www.excellesports.com/news/rodriguez-sky-blue-fastest-goal/ . dead.
  12. Web site: Glory add Costa Rican international for new season . . 12 October 2017 . 12 October 2017 . 13 October 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171013064614/https://www.w-league.com.au/news/glory-add-costa-rican-international-new-season . dead .
  13. News: Sky Blue FC Acquires Margaret 'Midge' Purce from Portland Thorns FC . https://web.archive.org/web/20200913070844/https://skybluefc.com/2020/01/08/sky-blue-fc-acquires-margaret-midge-purce-from-portland-thorns-fc/ . 13 September 2020 . . 8 January 2020.
  14. Web site: National Women's Soccer League Official Site | NWSL . www.nwslsoccer.com .
  15. Web site: 23 January 2024 . Angel City FC acquire midfielder Raquel "Rocky" Rodriguez via trade with Portland Thorns - Angels on Parade . 23 January 2024 . angelsonparade.com . en-US.
  16. Web site: Kansas City Current 4-2 Angel City FC (Mar 30, 2024) Final Score . 2024-03-30 . ESPN . en.
  17. Web site: National Women's Soccer League Official Site NWSL . 2024-04-21 . www.nwslsoccer.com.
  18. Web site: Press . Associated . 2024-06-20 . Sydney Leroux's late goal gives Angel City a win over Racing Louisville . 2024-06-20 . Los Angeles Times . en-US.
  19. Web site: World Cup: Costa Rica and Spain settle for draw, 1–1 . Los Angeles Times . 9 June 2015 . 13 June 2015.
  20. Web site: Entertaining battle sees debutants draw . https://web.archive.org/web/20150610130457/http://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/matches/round=268020/match=300269470/match-report.html . dead . 10 June 2015 . . 29 June 2015.
  21. Web site: FIFA player's stats . https://web.archive.org/web/20150701155516/http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/statisticsandrecords/players/player=300763/ . dead . 1 July 2015 . . 29 June 2015.
  22. Web site: Costa Rica joins U.S. women's national team in CONCACAF semifinals . espnW . 16 February 2016 . 18 February 2016.
  23. Web site: 2023-05-12 . Game Details . 2024-03-20 . Concacaf . en.
  24. Web site: Tyler . Snipes . The Portland Thorns are WICC Champions! . August 22, 2021 . International Champions Cup.
  25. Web site: NWSL RECAP Thorns claim 2021 NWSL Shield with 1-0 road win over Houston Dash PTFC.
  26. Web site: Azzi . Alex . 30 October 2022 . Portland Thorns win 2022 NWSL Championship, MVP Smith scores game winner . 1 November 2022 . On Her Turf.
  27. Web site: 4 October 2016 . SKY BLUE FC'S RAQUEL RODRIGUEZ VOTED ROOKIE OF THE YEAR National Women's Soccer League. live. 2021-11-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20161004183835/http://www.nwslsoccer.com/sky-blue-fc-s-raquel-rodriguez-voted-rookie-of-the-year. 4 October 2016.