Rodrigo Defendi

Rodrigo Defendi
Personal information
Full name Rodrigo Defendi
Date of birth (1986-06-16) 16 June 1986
Place of birth Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position Centre back
Club information
Current team
 Maribor
Number 35
Youth career
2004 Cruzeiro
2004–2005 Tottenham Hotspur
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2007 Tottenham Hotspur 0 (0)
2006 → Udinese (loan) 2 (0)
2006–2007 → Roma (loan) 0 (0)
2007–2009 Avellino 15 (0)
2010 Palmeiras B 0 (0)
2011 Paraná 14 (1)
2011–2012 Vitória de Guimarães 23 (1)
2013 Botafogo 0 (0)
2014 Vitória 1 (0)
2014–2015 Vitória de Guimarães 7 (0)
2015 Shijiazhuang Ever Bright 3 (0)
2016– Maribor 10 (1)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 25 May 2016.


Rodrigo Defendi (born 16 June 1986) is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a central defender for Maribor in the Slovenian PrvaLiga.

Club career

A young centre-half signed from the Brazilian club Cruzeiro, the appropriately named Defendi is renowned for a deft left foot and a dominance in the air. He was first spotted as a 16-year-old by the then Tottenham Hotspur Director of Sport Frank Arnesen.

He became the first player signed under the ill-fated Frank Arnesen and Jacques Santini era at Spurs from Cruzeiro for a fee of £600,000 on July 3, 2004, although he had to wait for his passport to arrive in August for the deal to be officially completed. He failed to make a first team appearance for Tottenham but featured in a number of reserve team matches.

He was deemed surplus to requirements by Tottenham Hotspur manager Martin Jol, as he was first allowed to travel back to Brazil to seek a contract with a new club which proved unsuccessful, before he was farmed out on loan to Udinese Calcio in January 2006. He made two league appearances before leaving for A.S. Roma in August 2006, again on loan. He made an appearance in the Champions League and in the Coppa Italia for the capital club, but didn't manage to play a league game in Serie A.

Defendi returned to Tottenham Hotpur from AS Roma after his loan period ended. On August 9, 2007 Tottenham announced his departure to the Italian Serie B club Avellino on a permanent transfer.

Defendi became free agent after the bankruptcy of Avellino and returned Brazil. He joined Palmeiras reserves in March 2010.

18 May 2011, Defendi signed a contract with Portuguese Primeira Liga side Vitória Guimarães.[1]

On January 10, 2013, Defendi, after nine years playing in Europe, was presented by Botafogo, his new side.[2]

On 18 February 2015, Defendi signed a two-year contract with Chinese Super League side Shijiazhuang Ever Bright.[3]

On 27 January 2016, he signed for Maribor in the Slovenian PrvaLiga.[4]

Honours

Botafogo

Maribor

References

  1. ↑ "Rodrigo Defendi é reforço (VÍDEO)". Vitória SC (in Portuguese). 18 May 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  2. ↑ De volta ao Brasil após nove anos, Defendi é apresentado no Botafogo
  3. ↑ 石家庄永昌宣布签约巴西后卫 签约两年 at sports.sohu.com 2015-02-18 Retrieved 2015-02-19 (Chinese)
  4. ↑ "Rodrigo Defendi: Prišel, da bi bil prvak" [Rodrigo Defendi: I came to be a champion] (in Slovenian). NK Maribor official website. 27 January 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
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