Garry Mendes Rodrigues (born 27 November 1990) is a professional

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 plays as a winger for

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

club

Apollon Limassol Apollon Limassol FC (, ''Apollon Lemesou'') is a Cypriot sports club, based in Limassol. It has football, basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1954, Apollon FC currently plays in the Cypriot First Division and has won the championship tit ...

. Born in the Netherlands, he plays for the Cape Verde national team. In February 2013, Rodrigues announced that he would like to represent Cape Verde, and made his debut in August 2013.Cape Verde vs. Gabon report
He represented the side at the

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

and

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

. He formerly played for

PAOK PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...

Elche CF Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Elche, Province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community, Spain. Founded in 1923, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025–26 season, holding home matches at ...

XerxesDZB XerxesDZB is a Dutch association football, football club based in Rotterdam. History The club was founded in 1904 as RFC Xerxes and their first regional championship was won in 1907. After a second championship in 1911 the club was promoted to t ...

, FC Boshuizen,

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Western Netherlands, lo ...

Levski Sofia PFC Levski Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 by a group of high sc ...

and

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

. He is a cousin of

Jerson Cabral Jerson Cabral (born 3 January 1991) is a Dutch-Cape Verdean professional footballer who plays as a winger for club Volendam. Club career Feyenoord Cabral was scouted by Feyenoord at the age of seven. He made his professional debut for Feye ...

Club career

As a youth player Rodrigues played for

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

and Portuguese

Real Sport Clube Real Sport Clube is a Portuguese football club situated in Queluz that competes in the Liga 3. They were founded in 1951. Current squad Honours * Campeonato de Portugal: 1 ** 2016–17 References External links * ...

. Rodrigues joined

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

club

from amateur FC Boshuizen on 16 May 2012, signing a 1+1 years contract. In July, he was loaned out to

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

club

. Rodrigues made his league debut in a 1–1 away draw against Emmen on 10 August, playing the full 90 minutes.

Levski Sofia

On 11 February 2013, Rodrigues signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Bulgarian club

. He made his debut away at

Chernomorets Burgas PSFC Chernomorets Burgas () or simply Chernomorets () was a Bulgarian football club from the city of Burgas. The club never won any major competition, its most notable achievement being a second-place finish in the UEFA Intertoto Cup competitio ...

in a 2–0 win on 3 March. On 13 March, he scored his first goal for Levski in the 22nd minute of a

Bulgarian Cup The Bulgarian Cup () is a Bulgarian annual football competition. It is the country's main cup competition and all officially registered Bulgarian football teams take part in it. The tournament's format is ''single-elimination'', with all matche ...

quarter-final first leg tie against

Litex Lovech FC Lovech (; formerly Litex Lovech) is a Bulgarian professional association football, football club based in Lovech, that competes in the Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria), Second League. The club was founded in 1921 as Hisarya Spor ...

. On 20 April, in a 2–1 away victory over Litex, Rodrigues netted his first league goal and assisted

Hristo Yovov Hristo Georgiev Yovov (; born 4 November 1977) is a Bulgarian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He spent all of his club career in his native Bulgaria with the exception of his three shorter stays abroad with ...

. On 21 July 2013, Rodrigues opened the scoring in Levski's first match of the 2013–14 A PFG season against

Botev Plovdiv Profesionalen Futbolen Klub Botev AD, commonly referred to as Botev Plovdiv (, ), or simply Botev (within its associated city), is a Bulgarian professional Association football, football club based in Plovdiv. It competes in the First Professiona ...

, but was subsequently

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

after an altercation with

Veselin Minev Veselin Minev ( Bulgarian Cyrillic: Веселин Минев; born 14 October 1980) is a Bulgarian former professional footballer who played as a left-back. He has a twin brother, Yordan, who is also a footballer. Club career Minev, together ...

. During the first half of the 2013–14 season Rodrigues scored 14 goals in total helping Levski Sofia to overcome several teams and progress to the 3rd place in the league ranking. He also scored a penalty in the 7–6 win after penalties against

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sports Club of the Army'' ...

in a Bulgarian Cup Eternal Derby third round tie, eventually helping the team to reach the quarter-finals of the competition. The strong overall performance led to the interest of several European clubs. In January 2014,

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

sent an offer to Levski for a trial, but Rodrigues refused it, stating that he would only negotiate with a team which is guaranteed to offer him a contract.

Elche

On 27 January 2014, Rodrigues signed with

on a six-month loan through Promoesport (an investment fund linked to

Gimnàstic de Tarragona Club Gimnàstic de Tarragona, commonly known as Gimnàstic Tarragona or sometimes just Nàstic, is a Spanish sports club based in Tarragona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Its football team plays in . The club was founded in 1886 an ...

), with a buyout clause. He made his

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

debut on 1 March, coming on as a second-half substitute in the 1–0 home win over

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was fou ...

, and scored his first goal in the category on 3 May, netting the game's only in an away success against

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, who compete in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system, following the ...

. In the 2014 summer Rodrigues signed a four-year deal with the

Valencian Valencian can refer to: * Something related to the Valencian Community ( Valencian Country) in Spain * Something related to the city of Valencia * Something related to the province of Valencia in Spain * Something related to the old Kingdom of ...

club, after his buyout clause was activated. On 31 July 2015, he rescinded his link.

PAOK

On 4 August 2015, Rodrigues signed a three-year contract with

for an undisclosed fee. On 23 September 2015, in a home derby game against

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

he scored his first goal in Greek

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 ...

. On 11 January 2016, PAOK turned down

Al-Ahli Saudi FC Al-Ahli Saudi Football Club (), commonly known as Al-Ahli, is a Saudi professional Association football, football club based in Jeddah. It competes in the Saudi Pro League, the top tier of Saudi football league system, Saudi football. Al-Ahl ...

's offer in the region of €1.7 million for Garry Rodrigues. He finished the season with seven goals being the third scorer of the club. On 24 November 2016, in a

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

group stage away match against

ACF Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

, Rodrigues scored a late goal to give PAOK a 3–2 win.

Galatasaray

On 9 January 2017,

officially announced the transfer of Rodrigues to Galatasaray for a fee of €3.7 million. In February 2018, he was linked with a move to

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, having scored five goals and made eight assists in 22 Süper Lig appearances since the start of the 2017–18 season.. He was contracted to Galatasaray until the summer of 2021.

Al-Ittihad

On 6 January 2019, Rodrigues joined Al-Ittihad of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

for a fee of €9m.

Fenerbahçe

On 13 July 2019, Fenerbahçe announced the signing of Rodrigues on loan for 2 years from Al-Ittihad.

Olympiacos

On 18 September 2021,

Olympiacos F.C. Olympiacos Football Club ( ), known simply as Olympiacos or Olympiacos Piraeus, is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in Piraeus. Part of the major Sports club, multi-sport club Olympiacos CFP (''Olympiakós Sýnde ...

officially announced the signing of Rodrigues on a three-year contract with €1 million annual fee, including bonuses.

Ankaragücü

On 19 August 2023, he signed a two-year contract with

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

club Ankaragücü.

International career

Rodrigues received his first international call-up in August 2013 to play friendly match against

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

on the 14th of that month. He

substituted Substitution may refer to: Arts and media *Substitution (poetry), a variation in poetic scansion *Substitution (theatre), an acting methodology Music *Chord substitution, swapping one chord for a related one within a chord progression *Tritone ...

Djaniny Jorge Djaniny Tavares Semedo (born 21 March 1991), known as Djaniny, is a Cape Verdean professional footballer who plays as a forward for Saudi Pro League club Al Fateh. After achieving 75 games and 12 goals in the Portuguese Primeira Liga for ...

at halftime. On 30 December 2013, Rodrigues appeared as a starter in the 1–4 loss against

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

, assisting his team's goal that was scored by Djaniny. On 6 September 2014 he scored his first international goal in a 3–1 away win over

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

in Cape Verde's successful qualification for the

2015 Africa Cup of Nations The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea 2015 for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th staging of the Africa Cup of Nations, the international men's football championship of Africa. It was org ...

. Rodrigues was included in their squad for the finals in

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

, but due to competition from Kuca, Djaniny and

Júlio Tavares Júlio Tavares (born 19 November 1988) is a Cape Verdean Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Saudi Second Division League club Al-Diriyah Club, Al-Diriyah and the Cape Verde national footba ...

he played only in the goalless draw with

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

, which confirmed their elimination from

Group B Group B was a set of regulations for Grand tourer, grand touring (GT) cars used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World S ...

. In January 2022, Rodrigues was a member of the Cape Verde squad that represented the nation at the

2021 Africa Cup of Nations The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (also referred to as AFCON 2021 or CAN 2021), known as the TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's ass ...

. He appeared in all four of the team's matches, assisting

' winning goal in their opening fixture against

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

and scoring the equaliser in a 1–1 draw with host nation

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

which ensured their qualification to the

knockout stage A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

. In December 2023, Rodrigues was named in Cape Verde's squad for his third

– the 2023 tournament in the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

. On 14 January 2024, in Cape Verde's opening match against

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

, he scored a 92nd minute goal to give the ''Tubarões Azuis'' a 2–1 win.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Cape Verde's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Rodrigues goal.''

Honours

Levski Sofia *

runner-up:

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Galatasaray *

: 2017–18 Olympiacos *

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

: 2021–22 Individual * Super League Greece Team of the Season: 2015–16 * Süper Lig Team of the Season: 2017–18

References

External links