Marco Rodriguez (soccer)

Marco Rodriguez (born January 7, 1992) is a Canadian soccer player who plays as a midfielder. He has also played at the international level with the Canada national futsal team.

Marco Rodriguez
Personal information
Date of birth (1992-01-07) 7 January 1992 (age 32)
Place of birth Toronto, Canada
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
2009–2013 Club Atlético Platense
2014 Defensor Sporting
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014 Toronto FC Academy
2015 Windsor Arch Ka I 10 (6)
2016 York Region Shooters
2016–2018 Florida Tropics SC (indoor) 42 (10)
2017 Vaughan Azzurri 1 (0)
2018–2019 Mississauga MetroStars (indoor) 18 (11)
2019 Toronto Croatia
International career
2016– Canada Futsal 10 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career edit

Early career edit

Rodriguez played at the youth level in Argentina with Club Atlético Platense from 2009 until 2013.[1] After a successful trial with Defensor Sporting in 2013, he was accepted into the club's reserve squad.[2] Following a year in Uruguay, he returned to Canada in 2014 and became involved with Toronto FC Academy in League1 Ontario.[3] In his debut season with TFC Academy, he helped the club win the Inter-Provincial Cup after defeating CS Longueuil.[4]

Asia edit

In 2015, he played abroad in Asia in Macau's Liga de Elite with Windsor Arch Ka I.[5] His tenure with the club was short as he departed for the last portion of the season.[6][7] He would appear in 10 matches and record 6 goals.[8]

Canada edit

He returned to Canada in 2016 to play in the southern Ontario-based Canadian Soccer League with the York Region Shooters.[9] Rodriguez made his debut for the club on May 29, 2016, against Brantford Galaxy where he recorded a goal.[9] Throughout his stint with York Region, he assisted the club in securing the First Division title.[10] He had another run in League1 Ontario in 2017 where he played with Vaughan Azzurri.[11] In the summer of 2019, he participated in the Croatian World Club Championship with Toronto Croatia where he played in the championship final where Toronto lost the match in a penalty shootout to SC Croat San Pedro.[12]

Indoor edit

In 2016, he won the Futsal Canadian Championship with Toronto United Futsal.[13]

He joined the professional ranks of indoor soccer for the 2016-17 season when he signed with Florida Tropics SC of the Major Arena Soccer League.[14] He recorded a hattrick on January 14, 2017, against St. Louis Ambush.[15] Rodriguez received an honorable mention for week 12 of the competition.[16] In his debut season with Florida, he appeared in 20 matches and recorded 8 goals.[17] He returned for his sophomore season where he appeared in 22 matches and recorded 2 goals.[17]

When the MASL expanded into Canada he was acquired by the expansion side Mississauga MetroStars for the 2018-19 season.[1][18] He missed the opening match due to a buildup of suspension cards from his previous tenure with Florida.[19][18] He made his debut for Mississauga on December 7, 2018, against his former club Florida where he also recorded his first goal for the MetroStars.[20] He assisted Mississauga in breaking their losing streak of eight matches by contributing a goal against Harrisburg Heat which marked the club's second win throughout the season.[21] After an incident with a player in Harrisburg on March 9, 2019, he received a suspension for several matches.[22][23][24] In total, he made 18 appearances and scored 11 goals.[17]

International career edit

Rodriguez was selected by head coach Kyt Selaidopoulos to help the Canada national futsal team qualify for the 2016 CONCACAF Futsal Championship in a qualification series against the United States.[25][26] Throughout the futsal tournament, he recorded a goal against Curacao where the Canadians won the match by a score of 7-4.[27] He was called up by Selaidopoulos once more this time for the 2021 CONCACAF Futsal Championship.[28][29] In the opening match for the national team, he helped Canada defeat Haiti.[30] The national team managed to advance to the quarterfinals but was defeated in a penalty shootout by Panama.[31]

Personal life edit

Rodriguez was born in Toronto to Argentine parents.[26]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Mississauga MetroStars acquire Canadian midfielder Marco Rodriguez". Mississauga News. 3 October 2018. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  2. ^ Girard, Daniel (23 April 2013). "Young trio from Oakville Soccer Club chasing pro dreams in Uruguay". Toronto Star. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  3. ^ "League 1, Week Two: Player of the Week". League1 Ontario. 18 June 2014. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  4. ^ "Toronto FC Claim Inaugural Inter-Provincial Cup". Ontario Soccer. 8 November 2014. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  5. ^ "Benfica imparável e Ka I na "sombra"" [Benfica Unstoppable and Ka I in the Shadow]. JTM. 8 April 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  6. ^ "Benfica procura "dobradinha", Ka I quer salvar a temporada" [Benfica seeks double, KA I wants to save the season]. JTM. 3 July 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  7. ^ "Brasileiros Fabrício e William são reforços de peso no Ka I" [Brazilians Fabricio and William are Strong Reinforcements KA I]. JTM. 21 December 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  8. ^ "RODRIGUEZ MARCO". Macau Football. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  9. ^ a b "York Region Shooters edge Brantford Galaxy in season opener". Vaughan Citizen. 30 May 2016.
  10. ^ "York Region Shooters end CSL regular season in 1st place with 4-1 win". Vaughan Citizen. 11 October 2016.
  11. ^ "Vaughan Azzurri - 2017 Regular Season - Roster - # - Marco Rodriguez -". www.league1ontario.com. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  12. ^ Barisic, Ivan (30 June 2019). "SC Croat San Pedro pobjednik je 4. Svjetskog nogometnog prvenstva klubova Hrvata izvan domovine" [SC San Pedro is the winner of the 4th World Football Championship of Croatia clubs outside their homeland]. Moja Domovina (in Croatian). Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  13. ^ "Toronto United wins 2016 Futsal Canadian Championship". The Sport Information Resource Centre. 11 April 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  14. ^ Haines, Andrew (1 July 2016). "Tropics SC Add Three More International Players to Roster - Florida Tropics SC". www.fltropics.com. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  15. ^ Bennett Jr. Ledger, James (15 January 2017). "Rodriguez nets hat trick as Tropics dump St. Louis". The Ledger. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  16. ^ Bennett Jr Ledger, James (20 January 2017). "Tropics co-owner: 'Rome wasn't built in a day'". The Ledger. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  17. ^ a b c "Marco Rodriguez soccer Statistics on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  18. ^ a b "MetroStars Confirm 18-Man Roster". OurSports Central. 28 November 2018. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  19. ^ Davidson, Neil (30 November 2018). "Mississauga MetroStars to kick off debut MASL season in Baltimore". EverythingGP. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  20. ^ Rhodes, Benedict (8 December 2018). "Mississauga MetroStars 10 - 0 Florida Tropics: MetroStars crush Tropics for first-ever win". Waking The Red. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  21. ^ Rhodes, Benedict (17 February 2019). "Mississauga MetroStars 6-5 Harrisburg Heat: MetroStars end their lengthy losing streak". Waking The Red. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  22. ^ Rhodes, Benedict (9 March 2019). "Mississauga MetroStars 4-8 Harrisburg Heat: A late scoring outburst isn't enough for the MetroStars to beat the Heat". Waking The Red. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  23. ^ Rhodes, Benedict (20 March 2019). "MetroStars score six unanswered goals to pick up first road win of the season". Waking The Red. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  24. ^ Rhodes, Benedict (22 March 2019). "Mississauga MetroStars 1-6 Utica City FC: Utica avenge Sunday's loss in Mississauga". Waking The Red. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  25. ^ Davidson, Neil (16 March 2016). "Canada begins Futsal World Cup journey, has to beat U.S. in playoff first". The Canadian Press.
  26. ^ a b "Profile". Canada Soccer. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  27. ^ "Canada beats Curacao 7-4 for first win at CONCACAF Futsal Championship". The Canadian Press. 9 May 2016.
  28. ^ Davidson, Neil (23 April 2021). "Canada names futsal roster for CONCACAF qualifier in Guatemala". The Canadian Press.
  29. ^ Davidson, Neil (3 May 2021). "Canada futsal team opens World Cup qualifying at CONCACAF tourney in Guatemala City". The Canadian Press.
  30. ^ "Canada stages late comeback to defeat Haiti at CONCACAF Futsal Championship". The Canadian Press. 4 May 2021.
  31. ^ "Canada denied a trip to the FIFA Futsal World Cup in penalty shootout loss to Panama". The Canadian Press. 7 May 2021.