Rodrigo Souza Silva (born 24 November 1987), sometimes known as just Rodrigo, is a Brazilian

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 an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for Operário Ferroviário. Although he represented the Timor-Leste national team, he was later found ineligible by the

Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in most countries and territories in Asia. The AFC was formed in 1954. It has 47 members. The Asian Ladies Football Confederation ( ...

Club career

Youth career

Born and raised in

Ipatinga Ipatinga is a Municipalities of Brazil, Brazilian municipality located in the interior of the Federative units of Brazil, state of Minas Gerais, in the Southeast Region, Brazil, Southeast Region of Brazil. Situated in the Vale do Rio Doce (meso ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, Rodrigo Silva began his career as a football player in 2004 with

ian top club,

Clube Atlético Mineiro The Clube Atlético Mineiro (), commonly known as Atlético Mineiro and colloquially as the Galo (, "Rooster"), is a professional association football club in Belo Horizonte, the capital city of the States of Brazil, Brazilian state of Minas ...

where he played for the next 3 years. During his three-year spell with the

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte is the List of largest cities in Brazil, sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population of around 2.3 million, and the third largest metropolitan area, containing a population of 6 million. It is the List of cities in Sout ...

-based club, he was promoted to and then brought back to the youth three times from 2004 to 2007. With the youth team, he helped the club win the

Campeonato Mineiro The Campeonato Mineiro is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. It is run by the Minas Gerais Football Federation (FMF). The history of Campeonato Mineiro can be divided into two parts: bef ...

Sub-20 (Junior) three times in a row in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

Brazil

Having shown a great performance with the youth teams of Clube Atlético Mineiro, Rodrigo Silva was promoted to the first team of the club in 2005 and was under a long-term contract of 4 years with the club. In January 2007, he moved on a short-term loan deal of four months to

club,

Esporte Clube Democrata Esporte Clube Democrata, usually known simply as Democrata de Governador Valadares, Democrata-GV, or just Democrata, is a traditional Brazilian football club from Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais state. History Dissatisfied supporters of Fla ...

. In August 2007, he moved on a one-month loan deal to

Campeonato Carioca The Campeonato Carioca (Carioca Championship), officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro State Championship), also commonly known as the Cariocão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Br ...

club,

Tupi Football Club Tupi Football Club, commonly referred to as Tupi, is a Brazilian professional club based in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais founded on 26 May 1912. It competes in the Campeonato Mineiro Segunda Divisão, the third tier of the Minas Gerais state foo ...

and then returned to his parent club, Clube Atlético Mineiro for the remaining of the 2007-08 season. In January 2008, he again moved out of Clube Atlético Mineiro and this time on a two-month loan deal to

Clube de Regatas Brasil Clube de Regatas Brasil, commonly referred to as CRB, is a Brazilian professional football club based in Maceió, Alagoas. It competes in the Série B, the second tier of Brazilian football, as well as in the Campeonato Alagoano, the top fligh ...

and then moved on loan to America Football Club till June 2008. In July 2008, he moved on loan to

Campeonato Brasileiro Série B The Campeonato Brasileiro Série B (commonly referred to as the Brasileirão Série B, the Série B or the Brazilian Série B to distinguish it from the Italian and the Ecuadorian Serie B), and currently officially called Brasileirão Série B ...

club,

Sociedade Esportiva do Gama Sociedade Esportiva do Gama, commonly referred to as Gama, is a Brazilian professional club based in Gama, Distrito Federal founded on 15 November 1975. It competes in the Campeonato Brasiliense, the top flight of the Distrito Federal state ...

where he played till November 2008. He then played from February to May in 2009 for Santa Helena de Goiás-based, Santa Helena Esporte Clube and then returned to his parent club, Clube Atlético Mineiro for the remaining of the 2008-2009 season thus ending his five-year spell with the Belo Horizonte-based club in which he spent majority of his time with other top Brazilian clubs.

Kuwait

Rodrigo Silva first moved out of Brazil in 2009 to the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

and more accurately to

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

where he signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with

Kuwaiti Premier League The Kuwait Premier League (), known as Zain Premier League due to sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Kuwait football pyramid system. Formed in 1961, Kuwait SC holds the best record in the competition, having won 20 times. History Th ...

club, Al-Nasr SC. He scored his first goal for the club in the 2009–10 Kuwaiti Premier League on 2 December 2009 in a 4–1 win against Kuwaiti top club, Al-Kuwait SC. In his second consecutive season with the Al-Farwaniyah-based club, he scored his first and only goal in the

2010–11 Kuwaiti Premier League The 2010–11 Kuwaiti Premier League season was the 49th since its establishment. The season started in August and finished in April after a 3-month break for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup played in January. Teams Al Salibikhaet and Al Tadamon were r ...

on 29 August 2010 in a 3–1 loss against Al-Qadsia SC.

United Arab Emirates

File:RodrigoSilvaSouzaEmiratesPre.jpg, Pre-Season

Emirates Club Emirates Club () is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. They play in the UAE Pro League after being promoted from the UAE First Division League. They play their home game ...

File:RodrigoSouzavsAlAhli.jpg, Against Al-Ahli Dubai F.C. In 2010, Rodrigo Silva again moved out of Brazil to a Middle Eastern country and this time to the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

where he signed a two-year contract with

UAE First Division League UAE First Division League is the second tier of football league competition in the United Arab Emirates. As of 2020–21, the league features 15 sides who play each other in a home and away round-robin format, with a total of 28 games for each t ...

club, Al-Khaleej Club. He made his debut and scored his first goal for the club on 26 August 2010 in a

2010–11 Etisalat Emirates Cup The 2010–11 Etisalat Emirates Cup is the third season of the league cup competition for teams in the UAE Pro-League. Group stage Group A Group B Semi-finals Fina ...

qualification match in a 1–0 win over

Al-Fujairah SC Fujairah Football Club () is an Emirati professional football club based in Fujairah. Founded in 1968, the club competes in the UAE First Division League. Honours * UAE First Division League **Winner (3): 1985–86, 1989–90, 2005–06 Sea ...

. He also made an appearance and scored a goal in the 2010–11 UAE President's Cup in Round 1 on 21 September 2010 in a 4–1 loss against Baniyas F.C. He made his UAE First Division League debut and scored his first goal in the competition on 9 December 2010 in a 3–3 draw against the

. He scored 10 goals in 20 appearances in the 2010-11 UAE First Division League. He also scored 10 goals in 13 appearances in the qualification to the 2010–11 Etisalat Emirates Cup. In his second consecutive season for the club, he made his first appearance for the club on 30 September 2011 in a 2011–12 Etisalat Emirates Cup qualification match in a 3–3 draw against

Al-Ittihad Kalba SC Kalba Football Club (Arabic: نادي كلباء الرياضي الثقافي), more colloquially abbreviated as Al-Ittihad, is a professional football club founded in 1972 and based in the city of Kalba, in the Emirate of Sharjah in the United ...

. He made his first appearance and scored his first goal in the 2011-12 UAE First Division League on 24 November 2011 in a 4–0 win over Al-Urooba. He also made an appearance in the

2011–12 UAE President's Cup The 2011–12 UAE President's Cup is the 36th season of the UAE President's Cup, the premier knockout tournament for association football clubs in the United Arab Emirates. The tournament was changed from previous editions and featured all 12 clu ...

in Round of 16 on 18 December 2011 in a 2–1 loss against

Al-Sharjah SCC Sharjah Football Club () is an Emirati professional football club based in Sharjah that competes in the UAE Pro League. Their home stadium is the Sharjah Stadium. Founded in 1966, Sharjah is considered to be one of the pioneers of complaining sin ...

. He scored 10 goals in 19 appearances in the 2011–12 UAE First Division League. He also scored made four appearances in qualification to the 2011–12 Etisalat Emirates Cup. In 2012, he moved to the

Emirate of Sharjah The Emirate of Sharjah (; ') is one of the emirates of the United Arab Emirates, which covers and has a population of over 1,400,000 (2015). It comprises the capital city of Sharjah, after which it is named, and other minor towns and exclave ...

where he signed a one-year contract with

UAE Pro-League The UAE Pro League (), also known as the ADNOC Pro League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the highest level of the Emirati football league system. The first team to w ...

club,

Al-Shaab CSC Al-Shaab Cultural & Sports Club () was a multi-sports club based in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The club was merged with Sharjah FC in 2017. Achievements * UAE Division One: 2 :1992–93, 1997–98 *UAE President's Cup: 1 :1993 *UAE Super ...

. He first helped the Sharjah-based club qualify for the UAE Pro-League by scoring two goals in three Quartet League qualifying matches. He made his UAE Pro-League debut and scored his first goal for the club in the competition on 24 September 2012 in a 4–0 win over Al-Ittihad Kalba SC. He also made his Etisalat Emirates Cup debut on 10 October 2012 in a 6–1 loss against

Al-Wahda F.C. Al Wahda Football Club () is an Emirati professional football club based in Abu Dhabi, that competes in the UAE Pro League. The club was founded in 1974 and plays its home games at the Al Nahyan Stadium. The club's colours are maroon, navy blue ...

He also made an appearance in the 2012–13 UAE President's Cup in the Round of 16 on 19 December 2012 in a 4–1 loss against Al-Wahda F.C. He scored five goals in eleven appearances in the

2012–13 UAE Pro-League 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, Numeral (linguistics), numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest Positive number, positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in o ...

and also made five appearances in the 2012–13 Etisalat Emirates Cup for the Sharjah-based club. In 2013, he moved to

Madinat Zayed ''Madīnat Zāyid'' () is the largest city and the administrative centre of Al Dhafra, the westernmost and largest region in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The township was established in 1968 by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the late Ruler of ...

where he moved to another UAE Pro-League club, Al-Dhafra SCC on a six-month loan deal. He made his debut for the club on 5 April 2013 in a 3–0 win over

Ajman Club Ajman Football Club (Arabic: نادي عجمان), simply Ajman Club or Ajman FC, is an Emirati professional football club based in Ajman. In 2015, Ajman was relegated to the second division, but managed to climb back to the top flight in 2017. ...

. He also made an appearance for the reserve team of the club on 10 May 2013 in a 3–2 win over the reserve team of Al-Wahda F.C. He made ten appearances for the Madinat Zayed-based club in the 2012–13 UAE Pro-League. In June 2013, he moved to

Ras al-Khaimah Ras Al Khaimah (; ), often referred to its initials RAK, is the largest city and capital of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in the U.A.E. The city had a population of 191,753 in 2025, and is the sixth-most populous city in UAE after Dubai, Abu ...

and on 1 July 2013 he signed a two-year contract with

UAE Arabian Gulf League The UAE Pro League (), also known as the ADNOC Pro League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the highest level of the Emirati football league system. The first team to w ...

club,

. He made his debut for the club on 9 September 2013 in a

UAE League Cup The UAE League Cup () is a knockout tournament for clubs in the UAE Pro-League. The first edition of the tournament was played in the 2008–09 Etisalat Emirates Cup, 2008–2009 season. In the 2008–09 season, UAE League Cup replaced the UAE Fed ...

match in a 1–1 draw against Al-Ahli Dubai F.C. He made his UAE Arabian Gulf League on 14 September 2013 in a 3–1 win over his former club, Al-Dhafra SCC and scored his first goal in the competition on 31 October 2013 in a 5–2 win over his former club, Al-Shaab CSC. He also made an appearance in the 2013–14 UAE President's Cup on 10 December 2013 in a 3–1 loss against Al-Ahli Dubai F.C. He scored 3 goals in 25 appearances in the 2013–14 Arabian Gulf League. He also made 5 appearances in the 2013–14 UAE Arabian Gulf Cup. In his second consecutive season for the club, he made his first appearance on 15 September 2014 in a 1–0 win over

and scored his first goal of the season on 5 October 2014 in a 1–1 draw against his former club, Al-Dhafra SCC. He made his first appearance in the 2014–15 UAE Arabian Gulf Cup on 5 November 2014 in a 2–1 loss against Baniyas F.C. and scored his first goal in his second game in the competition on 11 November 2014 in a 2–2 draw against Al-Fujairah SC.

Club career statistics

International career

On 19 January 2017, the

declared Rodrigo and eleven other Brazilian men's footballers ineligible to represent East Timor.

International goals

:''Scores and results list East Timor's goal tally first.''

Honours

Club

*With

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 Cl ...

(As a Youth Team player) :*

Sub-20 (3): 2005, 2006, 2007 *With Democrata :* Campeonato do Interior de Minas Gerais (1): 2007

Contract

*CRB (Loan) 2 January 2008 to 30 November 2008 *Atlético Mineiro 12 April 2004 to 6 April 2009

Club career

Youth career

Brazil

Kuwait

United Arab Emirates

Club career statistics

International career

International goals

Honours

Club

Contract

References

External links