Gerson Rodrigues (footballer, born 1995)

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Rodriguesand the second or paternal family name is Correia Leal.

Gerson Rodrigues

Rodrigues in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Gerson Rodrigues Correia Leal
Date of birth	(1995-06-20) 20 June 1995 (age 29) [1]
Place of birth	Pragal, Almada, Portugal [2]
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Guangxi Pingguo Haliao (on loan from Dynamo Kyiv)
Number	9
Youth career
	Metz
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2013–2014	Swift Hesperange	10	(0)
2014–2016	Union Luxembourg	23	(3)
2016–2017	Fola Esch	20	(9)
2017	Telstar	12	(3)
2018	Sheriff Tiraspol	22	(8)
2019	Júbilo Iwata	15	(5)
2019–	Dynamo Kyiv	33	(6)
2020	→ Ankaragücü (loan)	11	(6)
2021–2022	→ Troyes (loan)	12	(1)
2022	→ Eyüpspor (loan)	5	(3)
2022–2023	→ Al-Wehda (loan)	15	(2)
2023–2024	→ Sivasspor (loan)	13	(2)
2024	→ Slovan Bratislava (loan)	4	(4)
2024–	→ Guangxi Pingguo Haliao (loan)	0	(0)
International career‡
2017–	Luxembourg	64	(21)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18 March 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 7 September 2024

Gerson Rodrigues Correia Leal (born 20 June 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for China League One club Guangxi Pingguo Haliao, on loan from Ukrainian side Dynamo Kyiv. Born in Portugal, he plays for the Luxembourg national team.

A goalscoring midfielder, Rodrigues is the first Luxembourgish footballer to play in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League. He is currently the all-time leading goalscorer for the Luxembourg national team.

Club career

Early career

Rodrigues was born in the Portuguese town of Pragal, near Lisbon. ^[2] He began his youth career in France with FC Metz. ^[2] He was unable to make a breakthrough into the first-team squad at Metz and went on to play club football in Luxembourg for FC Swift Hesperange, Racing FC Union Luxembourg, and CS Fola Esch. ^{[2] [3]} From there, he moved to SC Telstar in the Netherlands.

On 30 January 2018, Rodrigues signed for Sheriff Tiraspol. ^[4] On 10 July 2018, he made his debut in the UEFA Champions League qualifying round against Torpedo Kutaisi. ^[2] After winning the league title with Sheriff in Moldova, Rodrigues signed for Júbilo Iwata on 16 January 2019. ^{[2] [5]} He quickly became a key player for Júbilo, scoring 7 goals in 18 matches for the club. ^[2]

Dynamo Kyiv

2019–20 season

On 2 August 2019, Rodrigues signed a contract with FC Dynamo Kyiv. ^[6] On 31 January 2020, Rodrigues moved on loan to Ankaragücü in the Turkish Süper Lig for the remainder of the season. ^[7] Rodrigues and teammate Ante Kulušić were involved in a training ground dust-up in July 2020. He was removed from the squad for the following match against Galatasaray and his loan was subsequently ended. ^[8] In his time with Ankaragücü, Rodrigues scored six goals and notched one assist in 11 league matches as the club finished in last place but were saved from relegation as the league was expanded to 21 clubs for the 2020–21 Süper Lig season because of complications from the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey. ^{[9] [10]}

2020–21 season: Double winners

In the Ukrainian Super Cup on 25 August 2020, Rodrigues scored the winning goal in an eventual 3–1 triumph over rivals Shakhtar Donetsk. ^[11] On 15 September, Rodrigues opened the scoring against Dutch side AZ Alkmaar in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League as his side won 2–0. ^[12] Rodrigues scored from the penalty spot in the play-off round against Belgian side Gent, capping a 5–1 win on aggregate and securing a place in the group stage. ^[13] Rodrigues featured in the club's first group stage match against Italian giants Juventus on 20 October, and in doing so became the first Luxembourgish player to play in the group stage of the Champions League. ^[14]

Rodrigues was an important member of the Dynamo Kyiv squad that won the domestic double of the Ukrainian Premier League and Ukrainian Cup during the 2020–21 season. ^[15]

2021–22 season: Loans to Troyes and Eyüpspor

On 31 August 2021, Rodrigues joined newly promoted Ligue 1 side Troyes on a season-long loan. The club held an option to make the deal permanent at the end of the season. ^[16]

On 7 March 2022, FIFA announced that, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, all the contracts of foreign players in Ukraine are suspended until 30 June 2022 and they are allowed to sign with clubs outside Ukraine until that date. ^[17] On 30 March 2022, Rodrigues signed with Turkish club Eyüpspor until 30 June 2022 using the new rule. ^[18] He played on loan in the 2022-2023 season for Al Wehda (Saudi Arabia).

International career

Rodrigues made his international debut for Luxembourg in 2017. On 21 March 2019, he scored his first goal for the national team and Luxembourg's second of the match, as they came back from a goal behind against Lithuania to win 2–1 in UEFA Euro 2020 qualification. ^[19] On 27 March 2021, Rodrigues scored the only goal in a famous 1–0 victory away to Ireland in 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification. ^[20] Three days later, Rodrigues followed this up by scoring the opening goal for Luxembourg against his country of birth, European champions Portugal, to take a shock lead, but they eventually fell to a 1–3 defeat. ^[21]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 18 March 2024 ^[3]

Club	Season	League			National cup [lower-alpha 1]		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Swift Hesperange	2012–13	Division of Honour	2	1	—		—		—		2	1
	2013–14	Luxembourg National Division	10	0	1	0	—		—		11	0
	Total		12	1	1	0	—		—		13	1
Union 05 Kayl-Tétange	2014-15	Division of Honour	22	4	—		—		—		22	4
Racing FC	2015–16	Luxembourg National Division	23	3	3	0	—		—		26	3
Fola Esch	2016–17	Luxembourg National Division	20	9	5	4	2 [lower-alpha 2]	0	—		27	13
Telstar	2017–18	Eerste Divisie	12	3	1	0	—		—		13	3
Sheriff Tiraspol	2018	Moldovan National Division	22	8	2	0	7 [lower-alpha 3]	0	—		31	8
Jubilo Iwata	2019	J1 League	15	5	3	2	—		—		18	7
Dynamo Kyiv	2019–20	Ukrainian Premier League	8	2	0	0	4 [lower-alpha 4]	0	0	0	12	2
	2020–21		22	4	3	0	12 [lower-alpha 5]	2	1 [lower-alpha 6]	1	38	7
	2021–22		3	0	—		—		—		3	0
	Total		33	6	3	0	16	2	1	1	53	9
Ankaragücü (loan)	2019–20	Süper Lig	11	6	0	0	—		—		11	6
Troyes (loan)	2021–22	Ligue 1	12	1	0	0	—		—		12	1
Eyüpspor (loan)	2021–22	1.Lig	5	3	0	0	—		—		5	3
Al Wehda (loan)	2022–23	Saudi Pro League	15	2	1	0	—		—		16	2
Sivasspor (loan)	2023–24	Süper Lig	13	2	0	0	—		—		13	2
Slovan Bratislava (loan)	2023–24	Slovak First Football League	4	4	2	0	—		—		6	4
Career total			219	57	19	6	25	2	1	1	266	66

1. Includes Luxembourg Cup, KNVB Cup, Moldovan Cup, Emperor's Cup, Ukrainian Cup, King Cup, Slovak Cup
2. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
3. Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, three appearances in UEFA Europa League
4. Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
5. Eight appearances and two goals in UEFA Champions League, four appearances in UEFA Europa League
6. Appearance in Ukrainian Super Cup

International

As of match played 5 September 2024 ^[22]

National team	Year	Caps	Goals
Luxembourg	2017	9	0
	2018	5	0
	2019	10	3
	2020	7	2
	2021	10	5
	2022	10	5
	2023	8	5
	2024	5	1
Total		64	21

Scores and results list Luxembourg's goal tally first. ^[23]

List of international goals scored by Gerson Rodrigues

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	21 March 2019	Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Lithuania	2–1	2–1	UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
2.	7 June 2019	LFF Stadium, Vilnius, Lithuania		1–0	1–1
3.	14 November 2019	Red Star Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia	Serbia	1–2	2–3
4.	5 September 2020	Baku Olympic Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan	Azerbaijan	2–1	2–1	2020–21 UEFA Nations League C
5.	7 October 2020	Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Liechtenstein	1–2	1–2	Friendly
6.	27 March 2021	Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Republic of Ireland	1–0	1–0	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
7.	30 March 2021	Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Portugal	1–0	1–3
8.	1 September 2021	Stade de Luxembourg, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Azerbaijan	2–0	2–1
9.	11 November 2021	Baku Olympic Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan		1–0	3–1
10.				3–1
11.	7 June 2022	Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands	Faroe Islands	1–0	1–0	2022–23 UEFA Nations League C
12.	14 June 2022	Stade de Luxembourg, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg		1–0	2–2
13.	22 September 2022	Başakşehir Fatih Terim Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey	Turkey	3–2	3–3
14.	25 September 2022	Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Lithuania	1–0	1–0
15.	17 November 2022	Stade de Luxembourg, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Hungary	1–0	2–2	Friendly
16.	17 June 2023	Stade de Luxembourg, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Liechtenstein	2–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying
17.	13 October 2023	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland	Iceland	1–1	1–1
18.	16 November 2023	Stade de Luxembourg, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2–0	4–1
19.				4–1
20.	19 November 2023	Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein	Liechtenstein	1–0	1–0
21.	26 March 2024	Stade de Luxembourg, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg	Kazakhstan	1–0	2–1	Friendly

Honours

Sheriff Tiraspol

• Divizia Nationala: 2018

Dynamo Kyiv

• Ukrainian Premier League: 2020–21 ^[24]
• Ukrainian Cup: 2020–21 ^[25]
• Ukrainian Super Cup: 2019, 2020 ^[11]

Personal life

Rodrigues became a Luxembourgish citizen in March 2017 after officially requesting it to the authorities. He thus became immediately eligible for the national team of Luxembourg. He still retains his Portuguese citizenship as of today. ^[26]

References

1. UEFA.com. "Gerson Rodrigues | Luxembourg | European Qualifiers". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
2. "Presenting the newcomer: Gerson RODRIGUES. Portuguese from Luxembourg". FC Dynamo Kiev. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
3. Gerson Rodrigues at Soccerway
4. "Добро пожаловать, Жерсон Родригес". fc-sheriff.com (in Russian). FC Sheriff Tiraspol. 31 January 2018. Archived from the original on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
5. "Спасибо, Жерсон Родригес". fc-sheriff.com (in Russian). FC Sheriff Tiraspol. 16 January 2019. Archived from the original on 17 January 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
6. "Presenting the newcomer: Gerson RODRIGUES. Portuguese from Luxembourg". fcdynamo.kiev.ua. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
7. "Gerson Rodrigues to continue his career in Turkey". FC Dynamo Kiev. 31 January 2020. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
8. "Bilgilendirme" (in Turkish). 17 July 2020. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
9. "2019-2020 Ankaragücü Player Details". FBref. Archived from the original on 18 February 2024. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
10. "No relegations for 2019-20 season in Turkish Super Lig". AA. 29 July 2020. Archived from the original on 12 January 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
11. "Шахтар 1:3 Динамо". UPL (in Ukrainian). 25 August 2020. Archived from the original on 18 February 2024. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
12. "Dynamo Kyiv 2-0 AZ Alkmaar". UEFA. 15 September 2020. Archived from the original on 17 September 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
13. "Dynamo Kyiv 3-0 Gent". UEFA. 29 September 2020. Archived from the original on 17 September 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
14. "Gerson Rodrigues is the first ever Luxembourgish player to appear in the main stage of the Champions League". Twitter. Archived from the original on 23 November 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
15. "Gerson Rodrigues: "Die Premier League wäre ideal für mich"". Wort (in German). 1 June 2021. Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
16. "Troyes sign Luxembourg international Gerson Rodrigues from Dynamo Kyiv". Get Football News France. 31 August 2021. Archived from the original on 2 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
17. "FIFA adopts temporary employment and registration rules to address several issues in relation to war in Ukraine". FIFA. 7 March 2022. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
18. "Eyüpspor'umuza Hoş Geldiniz Gerson Rodrigues ve Olivier Thill!" (in Turkish). Eyüpspor. 30 March 2022. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
19. "Luxembourg 2–1 Lithuania". UEFA. 21 March 2019. Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
20. "Republic of Ireland embarrassed by Luxembourg and Gerson Rodrigues". The Guardian. 27 March 2021. Archived from the original on 27 March 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
21. "Diogo Jota and Cristiano Ronaldo scored to help spare Portugal's blushes and deny Luxembourg another major World Cup 2022 qualifying win". BBC. 30 March 2021. Archived from the original on 1 April 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
22. "Gerson Rodrigues, international footballer". EU-Football.info. Archived from the original on 9 December 2018. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
23. "Gerson Rodrigues". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
24. "Wins for Gerson Rodrigues and Oli Thill". RTL. 9 May 2021. Archived from the original on 3 November 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
25. "Dynamo Kyiv vs. Zorya". Soccerway. 13 May 2021. Archived from the original on 3 November 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
26. "Gerson Rodrigues est Luxembourgeois". 6 March 2017. Archived from the original on 25 January 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2023.

External links

• Gerson Rodrigues at National-Football-Teams.com
• Gerson Rodrigues at J.League ( archive ) (in Japanese)
• Gerson Rodrigues at Soccerway
• Gerson Rodrigues at UAF and archived FFU page (in Ukrainian)