Football Player's Biography 7: maxi rodriguez

Full name	Maximiliano Rubén Rodríguez^[1]
Date of birth	January 2, 1981 (age 30)
Place of birth	Rosario, Argentina
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Winger / Attacking Midfielder

Maximiliano Rubén "Maxi" Rodríguez (born 2 January 1981 in Rosario, Santa Fe) is an Argentine footballer who plays for Liverpool in the Premier League. Nicknamed La Fiera, he is commonly used as a right winger or a left winger, but can also operate as an attacking midfielder.^[2]
Rodríguez arrived in Spain in his early 20s, and went on to spend the bulk of his professional career there, playing for Espanyol and Atlético Madrid and amassing La Liga totals of 232 games and 58 goals, over the course of eight seasons.

Club career

Newell's Old Boys

Rodríguez came through the youth set-up at Newell's Old Boys in the Argentine first division, and played for the club for three seasons before moving to Spain (having already played six months on loan to Real Oviedo, then in the country's second division).

Espanyol

In 2002, Rodríguez moved to La Liga with RCD Espanyol, his league debut coming on 2 September in a 0–2 loss against Real Madrid.
He played 37 matches in every campaign with the Catalans, scoring 15 times during his last season, including the club's 2000th Spanish league goal.

Atlético de Madrid

At the start of the 2005–06 season, Rodríguez moved to Atlético Madrid for a transfer fee of €5 million,^[3] where he continued to post consistent numbers. In his second year, he suffered, alongside teammate (and winger) Martin Petrov, a serious knee injury (ACL), which limited him to only 10 appearances.^[4]
On 10 November 2009, Rodríquez put four goals past UD Marbella in the Spanish Cup Round-of-32 second leg, in an eventual 6–0 home win (8–0 aggregate). After the 2007 departure of Fernando Torres to Liverpool, he was selected as the new club captain.

Liverpool

On 13 January 2010, Rodríguez completed a free transfer to Liverpool, signing a three-and-a-half year deal ^[5] and being given the number 17 shirt.^[6] He made his debut for the club as a second-half substitute in a league match against Stoke City on the 16th,^[7] his first full start coming a week and a half later, away to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
In his first games for Liverpool, Rodríguez gained two league assists, both of which were for former Atlético teammate Torres. He scored his first goal for the club in a 4–0 win over Burnley on 25 April 2010.^[8]
On 31 October 2010, as Liverpool struggled in the league, being placed in the relegation zone after the 9th game, Rodríguez scored the game's only goal against Bolton Wanderers, at the Reebok Stadium.^[9] On 20 November 2010, he scored a headed goal into the bottom corner of Robert Green's net in the game against West Ham United in a 3-0 victory at Anfield in which he put in what seemed to many as a Man of the match performance.^[10] Maxi scored Liverpool's third goal in the 55th minute in Liverpool's 3-0 win over Aston Villa on 6 December 2010 at Anfield. As of January 2011, Maxi has made 41 appearances and has scored 4 goals in all competitions.

International career

Rodríguez won the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship with the Argentina under-20s on home turf, scoring four goals in seven matches, scoring the first and last goals for the winners.
He made his full squad debut in a friendly match against Japan on June 8, 2003, in which he also scored.^[11] After being part of the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup squad, Rodríquez was called for the 2006 FIFA World Cup by national boss José Pekerman. On 16 June, he scored twice in Argentina's 6–0 victory over Serbia and Montenegro in the group stage.
In the round of 16, Rodríguez scored the winning goal against Mexico in a 2–1 extra time victory. He controlled a cross-field pass from Juan Pablo Sorín with his chest before volleying into the top corner from outside the penalty area with his left foot, in the 98th minute.^[12] In an unofficial online poll by FIFA, it was voted the best goal of the tournament.^[13]
After Argentina lost the quarter-final game against Germany on 30 June 2006, Rodríquez punched German player Bastian Schweinsteiger in the back. FIFA fined him CHF5,000 and suspended him from two matches in the 2007 Copa América for violent conduct.^[14] However, after a serious knee injury in a friendly with Spain in October 2006, he missed the continental competition, as national team manager Alfio Basile, whom initially intended to select the player, eventually rested him for precaution.^[15]
Rodríguez scored in Diego Maradona's first game in charge of Argentina, a 0–1 friendly win in Scotland.^[16] On 19 May 2010, he was named in the squad of 23 for the World Cup in South Africa^[17] and, in the last home game before the finals five days later, scored twice against Canada in a 5–0 win.