Maxi Rodriguez

Newell's and Espanyol

Born in Rosario, Santa Fe, Rodríguez came through the youth set-up at Newell's Old Boys in the Primera División. He played with the club for three seasons, before moving to Spain. In March 2002, Rodríguez agreed to a four-year deal with the option of a fifth at RCD Espanyol in La Liga. The transfer was frozen in May – after the player's presentation – by a court in Argentina who alleged irregularities in the actions of Newell's president Eduardo López; on 26 June the deal was concluded, for a €5 million fee in three instalments and with a buyout clause of €24 million. He made his debut on 2 September by featuring the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 loss away to Real Madrid, and scored his first goal on 27 October to decide a 4–3 comeback at Málaga CF in his team's first away victory for over a year. Rodríguez played 37 matches in every campaign with the Catalans, scoring 15 goals during his last to finish joint seventh for the Pichichi Trophy. He opened his account for that season with a hat-trick in the second game, a 4–1 away win over Real Betis on 12 September, and followed it six days later with the only goal of a defeat of Real Madrid at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys. He also scored both goals of a win away to Real Sociedad on 7 November, while in the next fixture his penalty kick won the game against Racing de Santander and briefly put his side on top of the league ahead of city rivals FC Barcelona, though he was also sent off.

Atlético…

Rodríguez won the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship with the Argentine under-20s on home soil, scoring four goals in seven matches including the first and last one in the final for the champions. He made his full side debut in a friendly against Japan on 8 June 2003, coming on as a 75th-minute substitute for Santiago Solari and scoring to conclude a 4–1 win in Osaka. After being part of the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup squad, Rodríguez was called for the 2006 FIFA World Cup by national boss José Pékerman and, on 16 June, he scored twice in Argentina's 6–0 victory over Serbia and Montenegro in the group stage. In the round of 16, he scored the winning goal against Mexico in a 2–1 extra time victory: he controlled a cross-field pass from Juan Pablo Sorín with his chest before volleying it into the top corner of Oswaldo Sánchez's net from outside the penalty area with his left foot, in the 98th minute; in an unofficial online poll by FIFA, it was voted the best goal of the tournament.

After Argentina lost the quarter-final game against Germany on 30 June 2006, Rodríguez punched opponent Bastian Schweinsteiger in the back. FIFA fined him CHF5,000 and suspended him from two matches in the 2007 Copa América for violent conduct. However, after a serious knee injury in a friendly with Spain in October 2006, he missed the continental competition as national team manager Alfio Basile, whom initially intended to select the player, eventually rested him for precaution. Rodríguez…

Club

International

Appearances and goals by years:

Argentina score listed first, score column indicates score after each Rodríguez goal. Sign ‡ indicates goals scored from a penalty kick.

Rodríguez was raised by his mother Claudia in his grandparents' home and never met his father. He is the cousin of fellow footballers Alexis Rodríguez and Denis Rodríguez, and all three played for Newell's at the same time.