Rodrigo Pereira Possebon (born 13 February 1989) 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 ...

who last played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

V.League 1 The V.League 1 ( vi, Giải bóng đá vô địch quốc gia, lit=National Football League), also called Night Wolf V.League 1 due to sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football league in Vietnam, controlled by the Vietnam Professi ...

side

Hồ Chí Minh City , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

. A

box-to-box midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, as a youth, he played for

Internacional Sport Club Internacional (), commonly known as Internacional or simply Inter, is a Brazilian professional football club based in Porto Alegre. They play in the Série A, the first division of the Brazilian league, as well as in Campeonat ...

in Brazil. He was spotted and signed by

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

in 2008. After two unsuccessful years with Manchester United which saw him only making 3 league appearances, he went on loan to

Braga Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (i ...

of Portugal for the first half of the 2009–10 season. He has since joined various clubs before joining Hồ Chí Minh City in 2018. Due to his ancestry, he was chosen to play for the Italy under-20s, playing one match for them in 2009.

Career

Club career

Early career

Born in

Sapucaia do Sul Sapucaia do Sul is a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It is located in the south of Brazil, in the region of "Vale dos Sinos A vale is a type of valley. Vale may also refer to: Places Georgia * Vale, Georgia, a town i ...

, Rio Grande do Sul, Possebon began his football career playing for

in a defensive midfield role. Possebon was spotted by

's Brazil-based scout, John Calvert-Toulmin, while following up the club's interest in twin full backs,

Fábio Fabio is a given name descended from Latin ''Fabius'' and very popular in Italy and Latin America (due to Italian migration). Its English equivalent is Fabian. The name is written without an accent in Italian and Spanish, but is usually accented ...

and Rafael da Silva.

Manchester United

Manchester United signed Possebon in January 2008, and since his father is of Italian descent, Possebon qualified for an Italian passport, and so was not subject to

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

legislation regarding non-Europeans working in Europe. Possebon was allocated the number 34 shirt, which was vacated by

Ryan Shawcross Ryan James Shawcross (born 4 October 1987) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is currently an assistant coach with MLS Next Pro club Inter Miami II. Shawcross began his career with Manchester United a ...

, for the remainder of the 2007–08 Premier League season. He made his professional debut for the club as a substitute, coming on for

Ryan Giggs Ryan Joseph Giggs (né Wilson; 29 November 1973) is a Welsh football coach and former player. Regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, Giggs played his entire professional career for Manchester United and briefly served as t ...

during the second half of the 1–1 draw with

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional Association football, football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football league system, English football. The club was ...

on 17 August. On 23 September 2008, during a

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by th ...

match, he was injured in a challenge by

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

captain Emanuel Pogatetz, for which the Austrian player received a straight red card. It was initially feared that he had broken his leg, but Manchester United later confirmed otherwise. Possebon made his return from injury on 22 October 2008, scoring in the Manchester United Reserves' 3–0 win over

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The two ...

. Possebon made his FA Cup debut on 13 February 2009, coming on as a 72nd-minute substitute for

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...

in a Fifth Round fixture with

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

. On 1 March 2009, Possebon won his second trophy in English football after he was part of the Manchester United squad that beat

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

4–1 on penalties after the 2009 League Cup final finished goalless. He had previously been part of the team that captured the 2008 FA Community Shield. Possebon joined

on loan, initially for the entire duration of the 2009–10 season. However, after falling out of favour, he returned to Old Trafford in January, after making just one appearance for the club.

Santos

On 19 August 2010, Santos announced that they had agreed terms with Possebon for his transfer from Manchester United. The two teams were still negotiating the fee for the transfer, but an announcement by Manchester United indicated that the transfer would be completed by the following day. Possebon made his Santos debut in an away draw against

Atlético Mineiro Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico * Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic C ...

Later career

After leaving Santos, Possebon had unsuccessful spells with five different clubs in two years before taking a further two years out of the game. He followed his departure from Santos with a short spell with Italian club

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the '' Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a t ...

, he didn't make an appearance before returning to Brazil to join

Criciúma Criciúma is a city in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. At , it is located 180 km south of Florianópolis, the state capital and around 900 km south of São Paulo. The city is the center of Brazil's flooring and home materials i ...

where he made 9 appearances. After a stint with

Mirassol Mirassol is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The city is located in the northern part of the state, 453 km from the city of São Paulo and 15 km from São José do Rio Preto. Mirassol has 60,303 inhabitants (IBGE/2020). ...

, Possebon joined Juventude and made just 7 appearances for the team before leaving. Before his break from football, he played seven times for Náutico in 2014. In 2016, two years later, Possebon officially signed for

URT Urt (; ; )AHURTI
He made his debut on 14 February in a 2–1 away win against

Boa Kwon Bo-ah (; born November 5, 1986), known professionally as BoA, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer and actress. One of the most successful and influential Korean entertainers, she has been dubbed the " Queen of K- ...

in the

2016 Campeonato Mineiro The 2016 Campeonato Mineiro was the 102nd season of Mineiro's top professional football league. The competition began on January 31 and will end in May. Teams * América *Atlético Mineiro *Boa Esporte * Caldense * Cruzeiro * Guarani *Tombense * ...

. He went on to make 7 appearances in total for URT in the Campeonato Mineiro as his side qualified for the semi-finals before being eliminated by Atlético Mineiro. In 2017, Possebon joined

Passo Fundo Passo Fundo is a municipality in the north of the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. It is named after its river. It's the twelfth largest city in the state with an estimated population of 204,722 inhabitants living in a total municip ...

. He played eight times for the club during the 2017 Campeonato Gaúcho as they were relegated down to Série A2. On 7 January 2018, Possebon signed a contract with

in Vietnam. He was released a month later, on 22 February 2018, before the league season started after failing to impress.

International career

Although he was born in Brazil, Possebon was eligible for an Italian passport due to his father's ancestry. He applied for an Italian passport when signing for Manchester United, in order to avoid work permit legislation for non-EU citizens working in the United Kingdom. Following a relatively successful first season with Manchester United, Possebon received a call-up from Italy under-20 coach

Francesco Rocca Francesco Rocca (; born 2 August 1954) is an Italian professional football coach and former player, who played as a defender. He spent his entire career with Italian club Roma, where he won the Coppa Italia twice. He was the coach of the Italy ...

for the penultimate match of the 2008–09 Four Nations tournament against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

on 22 April 2009.

Career statistics

''Statistics accurate as of 15 April 2018.''Possebon on Soccerway.com
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Honours

Club

;Internacional * U-20 Brazilian Championship (1): 2006 ;Manchester United *

FA Community Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier L ...

(1):

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

(1): 2008–09 ;Santos *

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the FPF, the league is contested between 16 clubs and ty ...

(1): 2011 *

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

(1): 2011

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Possebon, Rodrigo 1989 births Living people Sportspeople from Rio Grande do Sul Brazilian people of Italian descent Italian footballers Italy youth international footballers Brazilian footballers Brazilian expatriate footballers Association football midfielders Sport Club Internacional players Manchester United F.C. players S.C. Braga players Santos FC players Criciúma Esporte Clube players Mirassol Futebol Clube players Esporte Clube Juventude players Clube Náutico Capibaribe players União Recreativa dos Trabalhadores players Esporte Clube Passo Fundo players V.League 1 players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Premier League players Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Portugal Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in England Italian expatriate sportspeople in England