Ricardo Rodriguez (footballer)

Ricardo Iván Rodríguez Araya (born 25 August 1992) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a left-back for and captains Serie A club Torino and the Switzerland national team.

Born to a Spanish father and a Chilean mother of Spanish (Basque) descent, Rodriguez began playing football at the highly regarded youth club FC Schwamendingen in 2001 before joining the youth setup of FC Zürich as an 11-year-old in 2002.

Rodríguez has earned caps at every level of the Swiss national team setup, winning the FIFA U17 World Cup in 2009.

He was promoted to the senior squad in 2009 at age 16, making the bench for Zürich's 2–3 defeat to NK Maribor in the first leg of their third qualifying round Champions League tie on 29 July 2009.

Rodríguez began his professional career at local club FC Zürich in 2010, having spent eight years in the youth setup.

He made his Zürich debut as a 17-year-old in the 25th round of the Swiss Super League on 21 March 2010, replacing the injured Hannu Tihinen in the first half of the 2–0 win over Bellinzona.

His full debut came in the Zürich Derby against Grasshoppers on 5 April, playing the entire 3–2 win for the hosts.

He made only his second start in the first match of the Swiss Super League season on 20 July 2010, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–3 defeat to rivals FC Basel.

A full international for Switzerland since 2011, Rodriguez has earned over 110 caps for the country.

On 28 April 2011, he scored his first professional goal for the club, opening the scoring for the hosts as they ran out 3–0 winners over Neuchâtel Xamax at the Letzigrund.

Rodriguez made his European debut in the first-leg of their third qualifying round tie against Standard Liège on 27 July 2011.

He played the entire match and provided the cross for fellow Zürich youth team graduate Admir Mehmedi as the Swiss secured a 1–1 draw at the Stade Maurice Dufrasne in Belgium.

In the second leg, Rodriguez missed from an open goal from close range but Zürich won 1–0 to earn a spot in the play-off round against Bayern Munich.

He played the entirety of both play-off matches against Bayern, but the Swiss side fell 0–3 on aggregate and dropped into the Europa League.

On 26 October 2011, Rodriguez scored his second goal for the club, netting his side's second from the penalty spot, in a 2–0 win over FC Thun.

The club's final Super League match before the winter break on 10 December 2011, turned out to be Rodriguez's last in a Zürich shirt, playing the entire 1–1 draw with FC Sion.

After breaking through into the first team at Zürich, Rodríguez was sold to VfL Wolfsburg in January 2012 for £7.5 million.

He was part of the Swiss team at the 2012 Olympics, and also represented the senior side at the FIFA World Cup in 2014, 2018 and 2022, and the UEFA European Championship in 2016 and 2020.

On 11 January 2012, Zürich officials announced that the club had accepted a bid for Rodriguez by German side VfL Wolfsburg and that he was on the verge of completing the transfer, subject to a medical.

Despite being sold midway through the season, Rodriguez was voted as the Fans' Player of the Season on 4 June 2012, ahead of Oliver Buff and Pedro Henrique.

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.

He quickly asserted himself into the first-team lineup, making his Bundesliga debut the next day against 1. FC Köln, a 1–0 victory for the Wolves.

Rodriguez went on to play every game of the season from that point on without being substituted, becoming a favorite on the left of the defense for manager Felix Magath.

Through the first ten league games of the following campaign, Rodriguez was once again an ever-present in the squad, featuring in all the outings, starting eight.

But Magath was sacked after a poor run of form in the league and when Lorenz-Günther Köstner was installed as interim manager, the more experienced Marcel Schäfer was preferred at left back.

Once Dieter Hecking was appointed manager though, Rodriguez won his place back in the first team.

On 9 November 2013, he scored his first goal for Wolfsburg, from a direct free kick in a home Bundesliga match against Borussia Dortmund.

The match ended in a 2–1 win for Wolfsburg, although they were losing at half-time.

His second goal for Wolfsburg came from the penalty spot against Hamburg on 29 November, earning his side a 1–1 draw.

He opened the scoring in their Bundesliga match on 14 December, curling the ball past keeper Sven Ulreich, as Wolfsburg won 3–1.

He finished the 2013–14 season with five league goals, in addition to nine assists.

He failed to make it into the Bundesliga Team of the Season, but was included in a list of the Best Defenders for the 2013–14 campaign.

Rodriguez's nine assists also meant that he created more goals than any other full-back in Europe.

His impressive displays during the season included 2.3 key passes per game, the same number as Andrea Pirlo, the two-time reigning Serie A Footballer of the Year, and 2.6 successful dribbles per game, more than Cristiano Ronaldo, the reigning Ballon d'Or winner.

In 2014, he was voted Swiss Footballer of the Year.

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 defeat to English side Everton.

Three days later, Rodriguez scored twice more for Wolfsburg, once from the penalty spot and a volley from a Kevin De Bruyne corner, as Wolfsburg defeated Bayer Leverkusen 4–1.

He scored his third 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.

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.