Rodrigo_Defendi
Rodrigo Defendi
Brazilian footballer
Rodrigo Defendi (born 16 June 1986) is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a central defender.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1986-06-16) 16 June 1986 (age 37) | ||
| Place of birth | Ribeirão Preto, Brazil | ||
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Centre back | ||
| 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) |
| 2016–2017 | Maribor | 35 | (1) |
| 2017–2019 | Aves | 21 | (3) |
| 2019–2020 | Estoril | 12 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17 September 2020 | |||
Defendi was first spotted as a 16-year-old by the then Tottenham Hotspur Director of Sport Frank Arnesen. He was the first player signed under the 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 Hotspur from 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 a free agent after the bankruptcy of Avellino and returned to Brazil. He joined the Palmeiras reserves in March 2010.
On 18 May 2011, Defendi signed a contract with Portuguese Primeira Liga side Vitória Guimarães.[1]
On 10 January 2013, after nine years playing in Europe, Defendi 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]
- Roma
- Vitória de Guimarães
- Botafogo
- Maribor
- Slovenian Championship (1): 2016–17
- Slovenian Cup (1): 2015–16
- "Rodrigo Defendi é reforço (VÍDEO)". Vitória SC (in Portuguese). 18 May 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
- 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 (in Chinese)
- "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.
- Rodrigo Defendi at TuttoCalciatori.net (in Italian)
- Rodrigo Defendi at Soccerway
- Rodrigo Defendi at ForaDeJogo (archived)
