Daniel 'Dani' Ferreira Rodrigues (born 3 March 1980) is a Portuguese retired

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a winger.

Club career

Portugal

Born in

São João da Madeira São João da Madeira (), officially the City of S. João da Madeira (), is a city and a List of municipalities of Portugal, municipality in northwestern region of the Portugal, Portuguese Norte Region, Portugal, Norte region. It's part of the la ...

, Rodrigues started his career for Feirense, playing one full season in the Segunda Liga. In November 1998, he went on loan to

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...

in England, being spotted by

scouts Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

from nearby

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, who recommended him to manager

Glenn Hoddle Glenn Hoddle (born 27 October 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He currently works as a television pundit and commentator for ITV Sport and TNT Sports. He played as a midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, Monaco, Chelsea and ...

England

In an act of "un-neighbourly piracy", Southampton nipped in and signed Rodrigues from Feirense for £200,000. He played two games as a substitute at the end of the 1999–2000 campaign, against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

and

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

. Rodrigues showed promise and, when he went on loan to

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

at the end of 2000, he was an instant hit, but he broke an ankle in a match against

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

. He returned to the Saints and was fighting his way back to full fitness, when he broke the same ankle in training. In an effort to rebuild his career, Rodrigues spent another spell on loan to Bristol City. Southampton released him from his contract in July 2002, and he was acquired by

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

on a free transfer.

Greece / Return to England

Rodrigues was released by Walsall in January 2003, having made just one substitute appearance against Ipswich Town. He moved to Ionikos in Greece shortly after, scoring both of his

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

goals for the side in the last round as they narrowly avoided top-flight relegation. In March 2004, Rodrigues returned to England by joining Yeovil Town on a short-term contract, and netted four times in as many appearances, including a brace after coming off the bench on his debut against Bury. His exploits impressed Bournemouth boss Sean O'Driscoll, and he re-joined the latter for a second spell at the start of 2004–05. In his second spell at

Dean Court Dean Court, currently known as Vitality Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England, and is the home ground of AFC Bournemouth. The stadium has a capacity of 11,307. History I ...

, with the club still competing in the

Football League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

, Rodrigues scored seven goals from 60 competitive matches.

New Zealand Knights

In August 2006, Rodrigues signed for New Zealand Knights (who however took part in the Australian

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

). He was seriously injured once again, this time with a rupture of the

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

which kept him out of the game for the rest of the season.

Final spell in England

On 20 September 2007, Rodrigues joined

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the United Kingdom 2011 census, 2011 census. The town ...

. He was soon deemed surplus to requirements, after the arrival of new manager

Ian Baird Ian James Baird (born 1 April 1964) is an English former professional footballer whose most notable spells were as a Leeds United player. During his first period at the club he spent a season as captain. He won a player of the year award in h ...

. On 2 November of the same year, Rodrigues moved to the

Conference South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 of the NLS and sixth-highest ti ...

with Dorchester Town. He made his debut in a match at Newport County on the following day; on 29 December, the Magpies announced the player would not remain with the team.

Cyprus

For the 2008–09 campaign, Rodrigues signed for Onisilos in the

Cypriot Second Division The Cypriot Second Division () is the second highest association football, football division of the Cypriot football league system. Administered by the Cyprus Football Association, it is contested by 16 teams, with the top three teams being Prom ...

. He would remain in the country in the following years, representing several clubs.

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodrigues, Dani 1980 births Living people Footballers from São João da Madeira Portuguese men's footballers Men's association football wingers Liga Portugal 2 players C.D. Feirense players Premier League players English Football League players National League (English football) players AFC Bournemouth players Southampton F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Eastleigh F.C. players Dorchester Town F.C. players Super League Greece players Ionikos F.C. players A-League Men players New Zealand Knights FC players Cypriot Second Division players Digenis Akritas Morphou FC players Onisilos Sotira players ASIL Lysi players Omonia Aradippou players Doxa Katokopias FC players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's association footballers in New Zealand Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in England Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Greece Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen