Ricardo Rodriguez

Zürich

Born to a Galician 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 10-year-old in 2002. 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. 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. 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 2009, he was part of the Swiss U17 team who won the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup. His first goal of the tournament came in Switzerland's second group game against Japan on 27 October 2009, netting the winning goal as the match ended 4–3. He opened the scoring for the Swiss in the 35th minute against Germany in the Round of 16 as Switzerland eventually won 4–3 in added extra time. In the semi-finals against Colombia, he scored Switzerland's final goal of their 4–0 win to reach their first final of a FIFA competition since a 3–0 loss to Uruguay in the 1924 Olympics. He played the entire final against Nigeria on 15 November, helping Switzerland to a 1–0 victory to become just the third European nation to lift the trophy. Rodriguez made his debut for the Swiss senior national team in a Euro 2012 qualifying match against Wales on 7 October 2011, replacing Xherdan Shaqiri in the second half of the 0–2 loss. In his full debt four days later, Rodriguez played the entire match as the Swiss defeated Montenegro 2–0 to end their qualification campaign on a high, despite missing out on a playoff spot to the Balkan side. In a friendly match against the Netherlands on 11 November 2011, he played the entire match as the Swiss kept a clean sheet in Amsterdam. He played all three matches for Switzerland at the 2012 Olympics, in which they were eliminated in the group stage. Rodriguez featured in nine of ten World Cup qualifying matches for the Swiss, totaling 810 minutes, as they qualified for…

Due to his wide range of skills, Rodriguez is known for being equally adept at defending as he is going forward. Although usually a left-back, his size and physique have also seen him be deployed as a centre-back on occasion. Experts consider him an accomplished defender and note his strong heading ability, as well as his personality. He is also considered a continual attacking threat, and has been noted by analysts for his exceptional stamina and pace, which allow for his constant, buccaneering runs up the wing; he has also drawn praise from pundits for rarely conceding careless fouls. Conversely, he has been criticised for giving too much room to opposition attackers, taking up poor positioning and lacking in defensive discipline, while other analysts have criticised his concentration. Possessing good technique and distribution, he has become known for his pinpoint crossing and accurate left foot, which have earned him comparisons with Everton and England left back Leighton Baines. He is also noted for his speciality in dead ball situations, such as corner kicks, direct free kicks, and indirect free kicks, as well as for his excellent penalty taking abilities, emerging as Wolfsburg's first-choice penalty taker during the 2013–14 season. In 2014, his manager Dieter Hecking praised Rodriguez as "the best left-back in the Bundesliga".

Rodriguez was born in Zürich to a Spanish father and a Chilean mother. His mother, Marcela Araya, died of cancer in 2015. Rodriguez had the number 68, the year of her birth, tattooed on his back, and chose it as his shirt number at AC Milan. Rodriguez was born with a diaphragmatic hernia, meaning that his stomach, spleen, liver and intestine had migrated into the chest. Rodriguez was given a 50% chance of survival and was monitored every six months for the first three years of his life. He is the younger brother of midfielder Roberto Rodríguez and the older brother of midfielder Francisco Rodríguez.