Mario Rodríguez (footballer, born 1981)


Mario Rafael Rodríguez Rodríguez is a Guatemalan football midfielder. He currently plays for the local club CSD Municipal.
Rodríguez has played locally for CSD Comunicaciones and in Major League Soccer for Columbus Crew. He is also a member of the Guatemala national team.

Club career

Rodríguez, nicknamed El Loco, started his career in Guatemala in 2002 with Comunicaciones, where he would remain until 2004. In February 2004 during the 211th clasico between longtime arch-rivals Municipal and Comunicaciones, he collided with goalkeeper Danny Ortiz causing Ortiz to suffer a torn pericardium. Ortiz was taken to the Hospital Centro Médico where he died two hours later.
In 2005, he joined Columbus Crew from Costa Rican side Alajuelense, and in 2006, he played for Miami FC, and with 7 goals and 4 assists he was second in scoring for the club behind Brazilian forward Romário. He returned to Guatemala to play for Municipal for the 2007 Clausura.
He has been productive for Municipal. But despite being the top scorer on the team since joining, he hasn't always had the best relationship with Municipal fans because of his past with rivals Comunicaciones.
In March 2009, Rodríguez almost signed with Chunnam Dragons from the Korean League, only for the deal to fail through at the second attempt.

International career

Rodríguez made his international debut in a January 2003 friendly match against El Salvador and has since been capped over 70 times for his country. He represented his country in 19 FIFA World Cup qualification matches as well as at the 2003 and 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cups.
In 2006, Rodríguez was recalled by Guatemala national coach Hernán Darío Gómez to play against Haiti. He scored a goal and then was recalled for a friendly in Guatemala City against Panama.
He made his return to the national squad for the 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign, scoring three goals in the first two matches, against Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

International goals

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
18 June 2005Estadio Ricardo Saprissa, San José, Costa Rica2-22-32006 FIFA World Cup qualification
216 August 2006Tropical Park Stadium, Miami, United States1-01-1Friendly match
323 April 2008Estadio Mateo Flores, Guatemala City, Guatemala1-01-0Friendly match
414 June 2008Estadio Mateo Flores, Guatemala City, Guatemala1-06-02010 FIFA World Cup qualification
56 August 2008RFK Memorial Stadium, Washington, D.C., United States3-03-0Friendly match
610 September 2008Estadio Mateo Flores, Guatemala City, Guatemala3-14-12010 FIFA World Cup qualification
77 September 2010Nagai Stadium, Osaka, Japan1-21-2Friendly match
82 September 2011Estadio Mateo Flores, Guatemala City, Guatemala3-04-02014 FIFA World Cup qualification
97 October 2011Arnos Vale Stadium, Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines1-03-02014 FIFA World Cup qualification
107 October 2011Arnos Vale Stadium, Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines2-03-02014 FIFA World Cup qualification