Rodrigo is considered one of the world's top players, as recognised at multiple Beach Soccer Stars awards ceremonies.
Career
Rodrigo grew up playing casual beach soccer on Copacabana beach. He joined his first competitive club, Botafogo, in 2011, aged 18. Three years later in 2014, aged 21, Rodrgio was called up to the Brazilian national team for the first time and was subsequently picked for the 2015 World Cup squad.[3]
He particularly came to prominence in 2016, aged 23, when he won MVP awards in the Russian Superleague and Euro Winners Cup, and won the Rising Star commendation at the Beach Soccer Stars awards ceremony.[3] The next year, he inspired Brazil to their 2017 World Cup victory in the Bahamas, winning the Silver Shoe (second highest scorer) award with nine goals.[4]
In 2017, Rodrigo also joined top Russian club, Kristall. As of 2023, he has scored 251 goals in 176 games for the club in all competitions.[5]
He cemented his place as one of the world's best players when he was named as one of the world's top three players and part of the team of the year at the 2019 Beach Soccer Stars ceremony.[3] At the 2021 World Cup, Rodrigo made his 100th appearance for Brazil in the group stage loss to Switzerland.[6]
Statistics
Note: Some of the sources of these statistics may have counted an appearance when the player was actually an unused substitute.