Rodrigo Beckham

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Lopes and the second or paternal family name is Almeida.

Rodrigo Juliano Lopes de Almeida (born 7 August 1976) is a former Brazilian football midfielder, commonly known as Rodrigo Beckham due to having various similarities to David Beckham.^[2][3][4]

Rodrigo

Personal information
Full name	Rodrigo Juliano Lopes de Almeida
Date of birth	(1976-08-07) 7 August 1976 (age 48)
Place of birth	Santos, Brazil
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
1995	Portuguesa Santista
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1996–1998	Portuguesa Santista
1997	→ Guarani (loan)	4	(0)
1998	→ Gama (loan)	14	(9[1])
1999–2003	Botafogo	59	(19)
2002	→ Atlético Mineiro (loan)	0	(0)
2002–2003	→ Everton (loan)	4	(0)
2004	Corinthians	6	(0)
2005	Juventude	0	(0)
2005	Atlético Paranaense	6	(1)
2005	Vasco da Gama	7	(0)
2006–2007	Boavista
2007	Paraná	1	(0)
2008	Boavista	243
2009	Fortaleza
2010	Red Bull Brasil
Total		101+	(29+)
Managerial career
2014–2015	Boavista (assistant)
2015–2016	Boavista
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Rodrigo started his career at local club Portuguesa Santista in 1995, having played for the club in Campeonato Paulista matches^[5] and was loaned to Guarani for the 1997 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. After returning to Portuguesa Santista, he was loaned to Gama and was a key player for the club as they won 1998 Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, scoring 9 goals in 14 matches.^[6]

In 1999, Rodrigo joined Botafogo, shining at national level and becoming the club top goalscorer at the 2000 and 2001 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A editions, also being touted to a call-up to Brazil national football team.^[7] In 2002, he was loaned to Atlético Mineiro, where he injured his right knee in a match against Cruzeiro.^[8]

Rodrigo was signed on loan for Everton in July 2002,^[9] choosing his name to be printed as Rodrigol.^[10] However, his knee injury was not properly diagnosed^[11] and he suffered a ruptured ligament in September^[12] and did not play for the club again before being released in May the following year, having played only four matches.^[13] He went on trial with Leeds United in the summer of 2003.^[14]

After returning to Brazil, he joined Corinthians in 2004, but he dealt with persistent injuries and surgeries to his knee and could not recover his previous form.^[15] Later, he had unsuccessful spells at Juventude, Atlético Paranaense, Vasco da Gama, Paraná and Boavista, before ending his playing career at Red Bull Brasil in 2010.

After retiring, Rodrigo worked as a pundit and, in 2014, became an assistant manager for Boavista, being promoted to manager in the following year.^[16] He stayed as manager in 2016^[17] and was replaced by Joel Santana in 2017.^[18]

Honours

Gama

• Campeonato Brasileiro Série B: 1998
• Campeonato Brasiliense: 1998

Boavista

• Campeonato Carioca Série B: 2006

Fortaleza

• Campeonato Cearense: 2009

Red Bull Brasil

• Campeonato Paulista Série A3: 2010