swiss association football player
This article is about the swiss football player. For the spanish football director, see Ricardo Rodríguez ( football coach ) Rodriguez and the second or maternal family name is Araya. In this spanish name, the first or paternal surname isand the second or parental syndicate name is

Ricardo Ivan Rodriguez Araya ( born 25 August 1992 ) is a swiss professional football player who plays as a left-back for Serie A club Torino and the Switzerland home team. Rodriguez began his professional career at local anesthetic club FC Zürich in 2010, having spent eight years in the young person apparatus. After breaking through into the beginning team at Zürich, Rodriguez was sold to VfL Wolfsburg in January 2012 for £7.5 million. [ 2 ] He played 184 games across all competitions for Wolfsburg, scoring 22 goals and winning the DFB-Pokal and DFL-Supercup in 2015. In 2017, he signed for AC Milan. Rodriguez has earned caps at every floor of the Swiss national team apparatus, winning the FIFA U17 World Cup in 2009. A fully international for Switzerland since 2011, Rodriguez has earned over ninety caps for the country. He was part of the swiss team at the 2012 Olympics, and besides represented the aged side at the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and 2018, and the UEFA European Championship in 2016 and 2020. In 2014, he was voted swiss Footballer of the Year. [ 3 ]

Club career [edit ]

Zürich [edit ]

Born to a spanish father and a Chilean mother of Basque lineage, Rodriguez began playing football at the highly regard youth clubhouse FC Schwamendingen in 2001 before joining the youth apparatus of FC Zürich as an 11-year-old in 2002. [ 4 ] He was promoted to the elder team in 2009 at long time 16, making the bench for Zürich ‘s 2–3 kill to NK Maribor in the first leg of their third base qualifying round Champions League tie on 29 July 2009. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] He made his Zürich debut as a 17-year-old in the twenty-fifth round of the swiss Super League on 21 March 2010, replacing the hurt Hannu Tihinen in the first half of the 2–0 win over Bellinzona. [ 6 ] His wax debut came in the Zürich Derby against Grasshoppers on 5 April, playing the entire 3–2 win for the hosts. [ 7 ] He made only his second starting signal in the first match of the swiss Super League season on 20 July 2010, playing the wax 90 minutes in a 2–3 defeat to rivals FC Basel. [ 8 ] On 28 April 2011, he scored his first professional goal for the club, opening the score for the hosts as they ran out 3–0 winners over Neuchâtel Xamax at the Letzigrund. [ 9 ] Rodriguez made his european introduction in the first-leg of their third qualifying round tie against Standard Liège on 27 July 2011. [ 10 ] [ 11 ] He played the entire meet and provided the cross for colleague Zürich young person team calibrate Admir Mehmedi as the Swiss secured a 1–1 draw at the Stade Maurice Dufrasne in Belgium. [ 12 ] In the second leg, Rodriguez missed from an open goal from close crop but Zürich won 1–0 to earn a position in the play-off round against Bayern Munich. [ 13 ] He played the entirety of both play-off matches against Bayern, [ 14 ] [ 15 ] but the swiss side fell 0–3 on aggregate and dropped into the Europa League. [ 16 ] On 26 October 2011, Rodriguez scored his second finish for the club, netting his side ‘s second from the punishment blemish, in a 2–0 win over FC Thun. [ 17 ] The baseball club ‘s final examination Super League match before the winter fracture on 10 December 2011, turned out to be Rodriguez ‘s stopping point in a Zürich shirt, playing the entire 1–1 draw with FC Sion. [ 18 ] On 11 January 2012, Zürich officials announced that the club had accepted a wish for Rodriguez by german slope VfL Wolfsburg and that he was on the brink of completing the transfer, subject to a aesculapian. [ 19 ] Despite being sold halfway through the season, Rodriguez was voted as the Fans ‘ Player of the Season on 4 June 2012, ahead of Oliver Buff and Pedro Henrique. [ 20 ]

VfL Wolfsburg [edit ]

early career [edit ]

VfL Wolfsburg purchased Rodriguez as a 19-year-old on 13 January 2012 for £7.5 million with the player signing a four-and-a-half-year deal. [ 21 ] [ 22 ] He quickly asserted himself into the first-team batting order, making his Bundesliga debut the adjacent day against 1. FC Köln, a 1–0 victory for the Wolves. [ 23 ] Rodriguez went on to play every plot of the season from that point on without being substituted, becoming a favorite on the left of the department of defense for director Felix Magath. [ 4 ] Through the first ten league games of the following crusade, Rodriguez was once again an ever-present in the police squad, featuring in all the outings, starting eight. [ 24 ] But Magath was sacked after a poor run of human body in the league and when Lorenz-Günther Köstner was installed as interim coach, the more experience Marcel Schäfer was preferred at left back. [ 4 ] once Dieter Hecking was appointed director though, Rodriguez won his place spinal column in the foremost team. [ 4 ]

2013–14 season [edit ]

On 9 November 2013, he scored his first finish for Wolfsburg, from a direct free kick back in a home Bundesliga couple against Borussia Dortmund. [ 25 ] The catch ended in a 2–1 win for Wolfsburg, although they were losing at half-time. [ 26 ] His second base goal for Wolfsburg came from the punishment spot against Hamburg on 29 November, earning his side a 1–1 draw. [ 27 ] He opened the scoring in their Bundesliga match on 14 December, curling the ball past keeper Sven Ulreich, as Wolfsburg won 3–1. [ 28 ] He finished the 2013–14 season with five league goals, in addition to nine assists. [ 21 ] [ 29 ] He failed to make it into the Bundesliga Team of the Season, but was included in a tilt of the Best Defenders for the 2013–14 campaign. [ 30 ] Rodriguez ‘s nine assists besides meant that he created more goals than any other full-back in Europe. [ 31 ] His impressive displays during the season included 2.3 key passes per plot, the same number as Andrea Pirlo, the two-time reign Serie A Footballer of the Year, and 2.6 successful dribbles per crippled, more than Cristiano Ronaldo, the reigning Ballon d’Or winner. [ 32 ]

2014–15 season [edit ]

Rodriguez taking a free-kick for Wolfsburg. He scored his first ever goal in european football for Wolfsburg on 18 September 2014, netting directly from a free-kick after having previously scored an own-goal in a 4–1 frustration to English side Everton. [ 33 ] Three days subsequently, Rodriguez scored doubly more for Wolfsburg, once from the penalty spot and a volley from a Kevin De Bruyne corner, as Wolfsburg defeated Bayer Leverkusen 4–1. [ 34 ] He scored his third gear league goal of the season against Werder Bremen on 27 September, converting a De Bruyne cross to put Wolfsburg up 1–0 in an eventual 2–1 victory. [ 35 ] In October 2014, Rodriguez was ruled out for a count of weeks with a disturb patella tendon and second joint. [ 36 ] On 31 October, his agentive role, Roger Wittman, confirmed that Rodriguez and Wolfsburg had opened shrink talks to extend his stream share beyond 2016. [ 37 ] Rodriguez scored doubly in Wolfsburg ‘s 3–0 acquire away to Lille on 11 December, a consequence which advanced his side into the Europa League smasher stage alternatively of their opponents. [ 38 ] In January 2015, he signed a modern shrink up to June 2019. [ 39 ] He scored the merely goal of the game from the punishment descry on 7 April, as Wolfsburg defeated SC Freiburg to reach the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal, besides making a goalline headroom late on. [ 40 ] In the final on 30 May, he played the full moon 90 minutes as Wolfsburg won their first cup, defeating Borussia Dortmund 3–1. [ 41 ]

2015–16 season [edit ]

Rodriguez played the wide 90 minutes of Wolfsburg ‘s victory over Bayern Munich in the 2015 DFL-Supercup on 1 August, scoring their inaugural attack in the penalty gunfight after a 1–1 draw. [ 42 ] On 28 August 2015, he managed to score his first finish of the season against from the spot. He besides assisted Tim Klose ‘s goal later in that peer as Wolfsburg beat Schalke 3–0. [ 43 ] He scored another punishment in a 2–1 loss against Borussia Dortmund on 5 December. [ 44 ] On 6 April 2016, as Wolfsburg hosted Real Madrid in the foremost branch of the quarter-finals of the season ‘s Champions League, Rodriguez scored a penalty to open a surprise 2–0 victory. By sending Keylor Navas the wrong direction, he was the first actor to score against Real ‘s goalkeeper in the tournament for 738 minutes. [ 45 ]

2016–17 season

Read more: Swansea City A.F.C.

[edit ]

On 20 August 2016, Rodriguez played his first game of the season in a 2–1 gain over FSV Frankfurt in DFB-Pokal. [ 46 ] He besides played Wolfsburg ‘s opening ‌Bundesliga match of the season, in which he scored a freekick in a 2–0 win over Augsburg. [ 47 ] In January 2017, Rodriguez was a aim for Inter Milan and agreed to a move, but the italian cabaret refused to pay a fee high gear enough to trigger his release article of £18.5 million. [ 48 ]

AC Milan [edit ]

On 8 June 2017, it was announced that Rodriguez joined Serie A club AC Milan on a four-year distribute. [ 49 ] The tip was reported as €15 million plus €2 million in bonuses. [ 50 ] He chose the count 68 shirt, after the class his mother was born. [ 51 ] He played his first gear official peer for Milan and managed to score his first goal, a unblock kick, to win the first branch of Milan ‘s Europa League reservation match against CS U Craiova on 27 July. [ 52 ] He besides played in the irregular leg the succeed workweek and assisted Patrick Cutrone ‘s goal from the set while as Milan beat their adversary 2–0. [ 53 ] Rodriguez made his Serie A debut in a 3–0 dwelling victory against Crotone on 21 August, [ 54 ] and his first league goal came from a penalty kick in a 2–0 winnings against SPAL at the San Siro on 20 September. [ 55 ] On 15 October in the Derby della Madonnina, he gave away a late penalty from which Mauro Icardi completed his hat-trick to win the game 3–2 for Inter. Since then, whilst being a regular for Milan, he has not reached the heights that were expected of him, with Milan failing repeatedly to reach the Champions League. Most recently they failed in 2019 when Atalanta qualified for the first time at their expense. [ 56 ]

loanword to PSV [edit ]

On 30 January 2020, he was loaned to Dutch club PSV until the end of the 2019–20 season. [ 57 ]

turin [edit ]

On 19 August 2020, Rodriguez signed with Torino on a 4-year deal. [ 58 ]

International career [edit ]

In 2009, he was function of the Swiss U17 team who won the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup. [ 59 ] His first goal of the tournament came in Switzerland ‘s second base group game against Japan on 27 October 2009, netting the winning finish as the couple ended 4–3. [ 60 ] He opened the marking for the Swiss in the thirty-fifth minute against Germany in the Round of 16 as Switzerland finally won 4–3 in added extra time. [ 61 ] In the semi-finals against Colombia, he scored Switzerland ‘s final finish of their 4–0 win to reach their first final examination of a FIFA competition since a 3–0 loss to Uruguay in the 1924 Olympics. [ 62 ] He played the entire final examination against Nigeria on 15 November, helping Switzerland to a 1–0 victory to become just the one-third european nation to lift the trophy. [ 63 ] Rodriguez made his debut for the Swiss elder national team in a Euro 2012 qualifying pit against Wales on 7 October 2011, replacing Xherdan Shaqiri in the second half of the 0–2 loss. [ 64 ] [ 65 ] [ 66 ] In his full debt four days later, Rodriguez played the stallion equal as the Swiss defeated Montenegro 2–0 to end their qualification political campaign on a high, despite missing out on a playoff spot to the Balkan side. [ 67 ] [ 68 ] In a friendly equal against the Netherlands on 11 November 2011, he played the entire match as the Swiss kept a fairly sheet in Amsterdam. [ 69 ] He played all three matches for Switzerland at the 2012 Olympics, in which they were eliminated in the group stage. [ 70 ] Rodriguez featured in nine of ten World Cup qualifying matches for the Swiss, totaling 810 minutes, [ 71 ] as they qualified for the World Cup with a game to spare, thanks to a 2–1 acquire over Albania on 11 October 2013. [ 72 ] [ 73 ] On 13 May 2014, Rodriguez was named in Switzerland ‘s squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. [ 74 ] In their opening group game against Ecuador on 15 June, he took the corner which was headed by Admir Mehmedi for the counterweight, angstrom well as crossing for Haris Seferovic to score the winner in a 2–1 victory. [ 75 ] During the tournament finals in Brazil, he averaged 5 tackles and 2.5 interceptions per game, earning plaudits for his firm harness american samoa well as his ability to read the game. [ 21 ] At UEFA Euro 2016 in France, Rodriguez played every hour as Switzerland reached the last 16. They were eliminated on penalties by Poland in Saint-Étienne, although Rodriguez scored his try. [ 76 ] On 8 October 2016, he scored his beginning international goal on his 43rd cap, putting the swiss into the run in a 3–2 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying gain over Hungary at the Groupama Arena. [ 77 ] He netted another penalty on 3 September 2017 to conclude a 3–0 away win over Latvia. [ 78 ] The swiss finished second base in their group behind Portugal, qualifying for the play-offs where they faced Northern Ireland. Rodriguez scored the only goal of the tie in the first base leg at Windsor Park in Belfast, when a penalty was controversially awarded against Corry Evans. [ 79 ] In the second leg in Basel, he made a goalline clearance from a Jonny Evans header to ensure the swiss victory. [ 80 ] He was included in the Switzerland national team 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup. [ 81 ] In May 2019 he played for 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals. In the first gear match he scored a penalty against Portugal, but it did not help the team acquire, Switzerland lost 3-1. [ 82 ] His team lost the match for third gear place, lost to England on penalties. [ 83 ] UEFA Euro 2020 was postponed for a year because of the Coronavirus crisis. [ 84 ] Rodriguez was included in the 26-man swiss squad for the postpone UEFA Euro 2020. [ 85 ] On 28 June 2021, he missed a penalty in the 55th hour in a game against France in the UEFA Euro 2020 round of 16. [ 86 ] The game was taken into penalties after a 3-3 draw in which Switzerland subsequently won 5–4. [ 86 ]

dash of play [edit ]

due to his across-the-board roll of skills, Rodriguez is known for being equally adept at defending as he is going forward. [ 87 ] Although normally a left-back, his size and human body have besides seen him be deployed as a centre-back on occasion. [ 87 ] Experts consider him as an accomplished defender and note his potent head ability, a well his personality. [ 4 ] He is besides considered a continual assail terror, and has been noted by analysts for his exceptional stamina and pace, which allow for his changeless, buccaneering runs up the wing ; [ 4 ] [ 31 ] [ 21 ] he has besides drawn praise from pundits for rarely conceding careless foul. [ 87 ] conversely, he has been criticised for giving besides much room to opposition attackers, taking up poor put and miss in defensive discipline, [ 21 ] while other analysts have criticised his concentration. [ 88 ] Possessing good technique and distribution, he has become known for his pinpoint thwart and accurate left foot, which have earned him comparisons with Everton and England left back Leighton Baines. [ 64 ] [ 31 ] [ 89 ] [ 87 ] He is besides noted for his specialization in dead ball situations, such as corner kicks, direct release kicks, and indirect free kicks, a well as for his excellent penalty taking abilities, emerging as Wolfsburg ‘s first-choice penalty taker during the 2013–14 season. [ 59 ] [ 21 ] [ 87 ] In 2014, his coach Dieter Hecking praised Rodriguez as “ the best left-back in the Bundesliga ”. [ 37 ]

personal life [edit ]

Rodriguez was born in Zürich to a spanish church father and a Chilean mother. [ 59 ] His mother, Marcela Araya, died of cancer in 2015. Rodriguez had the total 68, the class of her birth, tattoo on his back. [ 90 ] Rodriguez was born with a diaphragmatic hernia, meaning that his stomach, spleen, liver and intestine had migrated into the chest of drawers. Rodriguez was given a 50 % prospect of survival and was monitored every six months for the beginning three years of his life. [ 90 ] He is the younger brother of midfielder Roberto Rodríguez and the older brother of midfielder Francisco Rodríguez. [ 21 ]

career statistics [edit ]

club [edit ]

As of match played 2 October 2021[91]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club

Season

League

National Cup1

Europe2

Total

Division
Apps
Goals
Apps
Goals
Apps
Goals
Apps
Goals

Zürich
2009–10
Swiss Super League

6
0
0
0
0
0
6
0

2010–11

Swiss Super League

13
1
1
0
0
0
14
1

2011–12

Swiss Super League

16
1
1
0
9
0
26
1

Total

35
2
2
0
9
0
46
2

VfL Wolfsburg
2011–12
Bundesliga

17
0
0
0
0
0
17
0

2012–13

Bundesliga

24
0
3
0
0
0
27
0

2013–14

Bundesliga

34
5
4
2
0
0
38
7

2014–15

Bundesliga

26
6
4
1
9
3
39
10

2015–16

Bundesliga

24
2
3
0
9
1
36
3

2016–17

Bundesliga

24
2
3
0
0
0
27
2

Total

149
15
17
3
18
4
184
22

AC Milan
2017–18
Serie A

34
1
4
0
9
3
47
4

2018–19

Serie A

35
0
3
0
3
0
41
0

2019–20

Serie A

5
0
0
0
0
0
5
0

Total

74
1
7
0
12
3
93
4

PSV Eindhoven (loan)

2019–20
Eredivisie

6
0
0
0
0
0
6
0

Torino
2020–21

Serie A

16
0
2
0
0
0
18
0

2021–22

Serie A

7
0
1
0
0
0
8
0

Total

23
0
3
0
0
0
26
0

Career total

287
18
29
3
39
7
355
28

1 Includes Swiss Cup, DFB-Pokal, DFL-Supercup, Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana matches.
2 Includes UEFA Europa League and UEFA Champions League matches .

International [edit ]

As of match played 12 October 2021[91]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team
Year
Apps
Goals

Switzerland

2011
4
0

2012
7
0

2013
7
0

2014
10
0

2015
5
0

2016
12
1

2017
5
2

2018
11
3

2019
10
2

2020
6
0

2021
14
1

Total
91
9

Scores and results list Switzerland’s goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Rodriguez goal.[92]

Honours [edit ]

VfL Wolfsburg
Switzerland U17
Individual

References [edit ]

Read more: Lille OSC