Raquel "Rocky" RodrÃÂguez Cedeño (born 28 October 1993) is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Kansas City Current of the National Women's Soccer League and the Costa Rica national team.
RodrÃÂguez played college soccer for the Penn State Nittany Lions, where she won the NCAA championship and the Hermann Trophy in 2015. She was drafted second overall by Sky Blue FC in the 2016 NWSL College Draft and named NWSL Rookie of the Year in 2016. In 2020, she was traded to Portland Thorns FC, where she won the NWSL Championship in 2022.
Born in San José, Costa Rica to Grettel Cedeño and Sivianni Rodriguez. Rodriguez, nicknamed Rocky, was raised in Costa Rica and moved to the United States where support for women's soccer offered more opportunity. Her father, Sivianni RodrÃÂguez, played professionally in Costa Rica with Herediano and the Costa Rica men's national team.
Rodriquez began playing soccer at age four and played on boys teams and trained with her brother and father as a youth. At age 11, her cousin told her one of the well-known men's club teams, Deportivo Saprissa, was holding tryouts for a women's team. After trying out, she played for the under-15 team. She played for her high school team while still attending elementary school. Both Raquel and her brother, Sivianni, attended International Christian School. She played for the school's team for a short while before committing to play for Costa Rica's national teams.
Rodriguez was a four-year starter for the Penn State Nittany Lions. As the 2015 team captain, she led her team to victory at the NCAA College Cup by scoring the game-winning goal against the Duke Blue Devils. Rodriguez received numerous awards in 2015, including NSCAA Scholar Player of the Year, Top Drawer Soccer Player of the Year, and she was the 2015 recipient of the Hermann Trophy. As a senior, she won the Honda Sports Award as the nation's top soccer player.
Rodriguez started her senior career at Deportivo Saprissa's women's team, before going on abroad to play college soccer in the US.
RodrÃÂguez was selected second overall by Sky Blue FC in the 2016 NWSL College Draft. In her rookie season, she scored 1 goal in 18 matches, and at the end of the season was named NWSL Rookie of the Year. In the 2017 season, RodrÃÂguez scored the fastest goal in NWSL history, netting 24 seconds from kick-off against Portland Thorns FC.
On 12 October 2017, RodrÃÂguez joined Perth Glory for the 2017âÂÂ18 W-League season. RodrÃÂguez is the first Central American ever to play in the W-League.
On 8 January 2020, RodrÃÂguez was traded to Portland Thorns FC. During the 2020 season, Rodriguez scored 1 goal. During the 2021 season, she scored 2 goals. During the 2022 season, she scored 3 goals.
On 23 January 2024 Angel City FC announced they had acquired RodrÃÂguez from the Portland Thorns in exchange for $275,000 in allocation money, with additional conditional funds to be paid against the transfer fee threshold. After missing the first two games of the season due to concussion protocol, RodrÃÂguez made her debut for Angel City on 30 March 2024 in a match against Kansas City Current. She came on a substitute for Amandine Henry and came close to scoring her first goal for Angel City to tie the game at 3âÂÂ3, but was the goal was ultimately disallowed after a VAR check, and the match ended as a 4âÂÂ2 defeat. RodrÃÂguez started her first match the following match day, 13 April 2024, against the Chicago Red Stars which finished as a 0âÂÂ1 victory, the teams first win of the season. RodrÃÂguez scored her first goal for Angel City on 19 June 2024, in a 3âÂÂ2 victory against Racing Louisville FC.
On 20 December 2024 Angel City announced that RodrÃÂguez would be traded to Kansas City Current in exchange for $100,000 in intra-league transfer funds.
During the 2015 FIFA World Cup, Rodriguez scored Costa Rica's first ever Women's World Cup goal during the opening Group Stage match against Spain, which ended 1âÂÂ1. Rodriguez played in all of Costa Rica's three matches in the tournament. During the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying tournament, Rodriguez scored five goals in the three group stage matches.
Rodriguez was selected for the roster for the inaugural 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup where she played every minute before Costa Rica were ultimately defeated in the quarterfinals by Canada.
Penn State Nittany Lions
Kansas City Current
Portland Thorns FC
Individual