Rodrigo Defendi

Last updated

Rodrigo Defendi
Personal information
Born (1986-06-16) 16 June 1986 (age 39)
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Centre back
Youth career
2004 Cruzeiro
2004–2005 Tottenham Hotspur
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2005–2007 Tottenham Hotspur 0 (0)
2006Udinese (loan) 2 (0)
2006–2007Roma (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 1 (0)
Total122(6)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Rodrigo Defendi (born 16 June 1986) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back.

Contents

Club career

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]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition [5]
ClubSeasonLeagueState LeagueNational CupLeague CupContinentalOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Udinese (loan) 2005–06 Serie A202040
Roma (loan) 2006–07 Serie A0010100020
Avellino 2007–08 Serie B 100010
2008–09 15010160
Total16010170
Paraná 2011 Série B 14141182
Vitória de Guimarães 2011–12 Primeira Liga 13100200000151
2012–13 1001000110
Total23110200000261
Botafogo 2013 Série A00200020
Vitória 2014 Série A10801040140
Vitória de Guimarães 2014–15 Primeira Liga70100080
Shijiazhuang Ever Bright 2015 Chinese Super League 301040
Maribor 2015–16 Slovenian PrvaLiga 10130131
2016–17 2505040340
Total3518040471
Aves 2017–18 Primeira Liga1013200133
2018–19 112303000172
Total213623000305
Estoril 2019–20 LigaPro10001020
Career total10952412636050401749

    Honours

    Roma
    Vitória de Guimarães
    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 (in 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.
    5. Rodrigo Defendi at Soccerway