Rodrigo Tabata

Career in Brazil

Tabata was born in Araçatuba, Brazil, of Japanese descent. Earlier in his career, he was a journeyman and played for 11 different clubs between 1999 and 2003. In 2004, he moved to Goiás, playing the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A for the first time. His good performances helped his club finishing in 3rd place in the 2005 edition, the best position Goiás ever achieved in the top flight and qualifying for the Copa Libertadores for the first time in its history. Tabata was purchased by Santos in 2006, where he won twice the Campeonato Paulista in 2006 and 2007. In 2008, he moved abroad to Gaziantepspor in a three-year loan deal with an option to a permanent purchase.

Gaziantepspor and Beşiktaş

After a successful season with Gaziantepspor, Tabata moved to Beşiktaş for €8 million transfer fee. The transfer caused controversy at Santos as the Brazilian club claimed that they have not received the fee from Gaziantepspor to make the deal permanent before the deal was finished between the Turkish clubs. Tabata played one full season at Beşiktaş before moving on loan to Al Rayyan in 2010, later being purchased by the Qatari side in 2011.

Al Rayyan

In late 2011, the Al Rayyan administration asked Tabata, who has Japanese grandparents, to obtain a Japanese passport for reasons relating to the foreign player quota of the AFC Champions League. However, Tabata failed the prerequisites as he was unable to write or read the Japanese language. He…

After years of playing in Qatar, he became a naturalized Qatari citizen and was therefore eligible for the Brazilian and Qatari national football teams. In August 2015, Tabata was selected for the Qatar national team's camp in Austria. His unofficial debut came in a friendly against Austrian club LASK Linz on 17 August 2015. He made his official debut in a FIFA World Cup qualifier match against Hong Kong in a 2–0 win.

Club

As of match played 24 January 2025

International

Scores and results list Qatar's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Rodrigo Tabata goal.

Santos

Campeonato Paulista: 2006, 2007 Al Rayyan

Qatar Stars League: 2015–16 Emir of Qatar Cup: 2013 Sheikh Jassim Cup: 2012, 2013, 2018 Al-Sadd

Qatar Stars League: 2020–21, 2021–22 Qatar Cup: 2020, 2021 Emir of Qatar Cup: 2014, 2020, 2021 Sheikh Jassim Cup: 2014 Individual

Qatar Stars League Player of the Year: 2011–12, 2015–16 Qatar Stars League Top Scorer: 2015–16