Clemente Juan Rodriguez is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a defender for Atlético Colon (Argentina). He is famous for his uniqueness in the defensive line, he can play in any role, most often on the flanks. In the period from 2003 to 2013, he played for the Argentina national team (20 matches and 1 goal scored).
He achieved his greatest success with the Boca Juniors club, where he spent 9 seasons throughout his career and won 10 national and international trophies. The growth of a football player is 166 centimeters, weight - 66 kilograms. The Argentine defender is often confused with the legendary Brazilian Roberto Carlos, because they really look alike. Coincidence or not, they also play in the same position.
Football career at Boca Juniors
Clemente Rodriguez was born on July 31, 1981 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Since childhood, like many Argentine guys, he dreamed of becoming a professional football player. The idols of young Clemente were such legendaryplayers like Diego Simeone, Diego Maradona and Gabriel Batistuta. At the age of six, he signed up for the Los Andes Football Academy in Buenos Aires. He began his football career in the youth team of the Los Andes club. He made his professional debut with Boca Juniors in 2000 in a Mercosur Cup match against Nacional (Uruguay), the match ended in a 3-3 draw. Here he played until 2004, played 95 matches and scored 5 goals.
Six years later he returned to the club, where he played 3 more seasons (from 2010 to 2013, 73 matches and 2 goals). Together with the "Genoese" he won many national and international titles. In 2003, the team won the Intercontinental Cup. Here, Clemente Rodriguez became a three-time champion of Argentina (aperture 2000, 2003 and 2011; aperture - the first half of the Argentine championship season), winner of the Argentine Cup (2012), three-time winner of the Libertadores Cup (2001, 2003, 2007) and two-time vice-champion Copa Libertadores (2004 and 2012).
Career at Spartak Moscow
Before moving to Spartak Moscow, Clemente Rodriguez wanted to acquire clubs such as Borussia Dortmund, Kaiserslautern (both from Germany), Valencia and Villarreal (Spain). However, the Argentinean chose the Russian club because he offered better terms.
In 2004 Argentine defender Clemente Rodriguez signed a two-year contract with the Russian Premier League club Spartak Moscow. The transfer fee was 4 milliondollars. At the end of the contract, the footballer extended the agreement for another two and a half years. As a result, the Argentine was a Spartak player from 2004 to 2009.
In 2007, he was loaned to Boca Juniors for the remainder of the season, where he played 14 games and scored 2 goals. He spent the 2007/2008 football season on loan to the Spanish club Espanyol, where he played in 17 official matches. As part of the "red-white" played 71 matches and scored three goals. Here he became the silver medalist of the Russian Championship three times (2005, 2006 and 2009), was the finalist of the Russian Cup and Super Cup in 2006.
Homecoming
In August 2009, Clemente Rodriguez returned to his homeland, Argentina, where he signed a contract with Estudiantes. As part of the Pied Piper, he played only one season, during which he took part in 27 matches and scored one goal. On June 24, 2013, he signed a two-year contract with Brazilian São Paulo. On April 7, 2014, after almost a whole season, Rodriguez, along with Fabrizio, were removed from the main team of the club and sent to the Boca Juniors arena. For the fourth time, Clemente Rodriguez returns to the Genoese. In total, he played 3 matches in Sao Paulo.
In 2015, the footballer moved to the Argentine Atletico Colon, where he plays to the present. In total, he played over 35 matches without scoring goals.
Football player Clemente Rodriguez: international career
In the national teamThe Argentina player made his debut on January 31, 2002 (at the age of 21) in a friendly match against Honduras. Participated in the America's Cup tournament in 2004. Then the football player was personally called by the head coach of the Argentines Marcel Bielsa. Clemente played only two matches, and the Argentina national team reached the final stage, where they lost to Brazil on pen alties. In 2004, Rodriguez became the champion of the 2004 Summer Olympics with the Argenitna team. In the same year, the "white-blue" became the silver medalists of the America's Cup. At the initiative of Diego Maradona, Clemente was called up to the national team for the 2010 World Cup.
