Garry Mendes Rodrigues (born 27 November 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Cypriot First Division club Apollon Limassol. Born in the Netherlands, he plays for the Cape Verde national team.
In February 2013, Rodrigues announced that he would like to represent Cape Verde,[1] and made his debut in August 2013.[2] He represented the side at the 2015 and 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
He formerly played for PAOK, Elche CF, XerxesDZB, FC Boshuizen, ADO Den Haag, Dordrecht, Levski Sofia and Galatasaray.
He is a cousin of Jerson Cabral.
As a youth player Rodrigues played for Feyenoord and Portuguese Real Sport Clube.[citation needed]
Rodrigues joined Eredivisie club ADO Den Haag from amateur FC Boshuizen on 16 May 2012, signing a 1+1 years contract.[3] In July, he was loaned out to Eerste Divisie club Dordrecht. Rodrigues made his league debut in a 1–1 away draw against Emmen on 10 August, playing the full 90 minutes.[4]
On 11 February 2013, Rodrigues signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Bulgarian club Levski Sofia.[5] He made his debut away at Chernomorets Burgas in a 2–0 win on 3 March. On 13 March, he scored his first goal for Levski in the 22nd minute of a Bulgarian Cup quarter-final first leg tie against Litex Lovech.[6] On 20 April, in a 2–1 away victory over Litex, Rodrigues netted his first league goal and assisted Hristo Yovov.[7]
On 21 July 2013, Rodrigues opened the scoring in Levski's first match of the 2013–14 A PFG season against Botev Plovdiv, but was subsequently sent off after an altercation with Veselin Minev.[8]
During the first half of the 2013–14 season Rodrigues scored 14 goals in total helping Levski Sofia to overcome several teams and progress to the 3rd place in the league ranking. He also scored a penalty in the 7–6 win after penalties against CSKA Sofia in a Bulgarian Cup Eternal Derby third round tie, eventually helping the team to reach the quarter-finals of the competition. The strong overall performance led to the interest of several European clubs. In January 2014, West Ham United sent an offer to Levski for a trial, but Rodrigues refused it, stating that he would only negotiate with a team which is guaranteed to offer him a contract.[9]
On 27 January 2014, Rodrigues signed with Elche CF on a six-month loan through Promoesport (an investment fund linked to Gimnàstic de Tarragona), with a buyout clause.[10][11] He made his La Liga debut on 1 March, coming on as a second-half substitute in the 1–0 home win over Celta de Vigo,[12] and scored his first goal in the category on 3 May, netting the game's only in an away success against Málaga CF.[13]
In the 2014 summer Rodrigues signed a four-year deal with the Valencian club, after his buyout clause was activated.[14] On 31 July 2015, he rescinded his link.[15]
On 4 August 2015, Rodrigues signed a three-year contract with PAOK for an undisclosed fee.[16] On 23 September 2015, in a home derby game against AEK Athens he scored his first goal in Greek Super League. On 11 January 2016, PAOK turned down Al-Ahli Saudi FC's offer in the region of €1.7 million for Garry Rodrigues.[17] He finished the season with seven goals being the third scorer of the club.
On 24 November 2016, in a UEFA Europa League group stage away match against ACF Fiorentina, Rodrigues scored a late goal to give PAOK a 3–2 win.[18]
On 9 January 2017, PAOK officially announced the transfer of Rodrigues to Galatasaray for a fee of €3.7 million.[19] In February 2018, he was linked with a move to Lyon, having scored five goals and made eight assists in 22 Süper Lig appearances since the start of the 2017–18 season..[20]
He was contracted to Galatasaray until the summer of 2021.
On 6 January 2019, Rodrigues joined Al-Ittihad of Saudi Arabia for a fee of €9m.[21]
On 13 July 2019, Fenerbahçe announced the signing of Rodrigues on loan for 2 years from Al-Ittihad.[22]
On 18 September 2021, Olympiacos F.C. officially announced the signing of Rodrigues on a three-year contract with €1 million annual fee, including bonuses.[23]
On 19 August 2023, he signed a two-year contract with Süper Lig club Ankaragücü.[24]
Rodrigues received his first international call-up in August 2013 to play friendly match against Gabon on the 14th of that month.[25] He substituted Djaniny at halftime.[2] On 30 December 2013, Rodrigues appeared as a starter in the 1–4 loss against Catalonia in a friendly match, assisting his team's goal that was scored by Djaniny.[26] On 6 September 2014 he scored his first international goal in a 3–1 away win over Niger in Cape Verde's successful qualification for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. Rodrigues was included in their squad for the finals in Equatorial Guinea, but due to competition from Kuca, Djaniny and Júlio Tavares he played only in the goalless draw with Zambia, which confirmed their elimination from Group B.[27]
In January 2022, Rodrigues was a member of the Cape Verde squad that represented the nation at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.[28] He appeared in all four of the team's matches, assisting Júlio Tavares' winning goal in their opening fixture against Ethiopia[29] and scoring the equaliser in a 1–1 draw with host nation Cameroon which ensured their qualification to the knockout stage.[30]
In December 2023, Rodrigues was named in Cape Verde's squad for his third Africa Cup of Nations – the 2023 tournament in the Ivory Coast.[31] On 14 January 2024, in Cape Verde's opening match against Ghana, he scored a 92nd minute goal to give the Tubarões Azuis a 2–1 win.[32]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental[a] | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Dordrecht | 2012–13 | Eerste Divisie | 20 | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | 23 | 5 | |
| Levski Sofia | 2012–13 | Bulgarian A Football Group | 14 | 3 | 5 | 4 | — | 19 | 7 | |
| 2013–14 | 21 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 13 | ||
| Total | 35 | 13 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 46 | 20 | ||
| Elche | 2013–14 | La Liga | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 10 | 1 | |
| 2014–15 | 31 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 32 | 2 | |||
| Total | 41 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 3 | ||
| PAOK | 2015–16 | Super League Greece | 26 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 36 | 7 |
| 2016–17 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 22 | 6 | ||
| Total | 38 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 4 | 58 | 13 | ||
| Galatasaray | 2016–17 | Süper Lig | 16 | 1 | 2 | 1 | — | 18 | 2 | |
| 2017–18 | 33 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 40 | 10 | ||
| 2018–19 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 20 | 4 | ||
| Total | 61 | 13 | 8 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 78 | 16 | ||
| Al-Ittihad | 2018–19 | Saudi Professional League | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 11 | 1 | |
| 2020–21 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 0 | — | 18 | 4 | |||
| 2021–22 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| Total | 28 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 5 | ||
| Fenerbahçe (loan) | 2019–20 | Süper Lig | 26 | 4 | 3 | 0 | — | 29 | 4 | |
| Olympiacos | 2021–22 | Super League Greece | 19 | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | 22 | 5 | |
| 2022–23 | 18 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 29 | 3 | ||
| Total | 37 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 51 | 8 | ||
| Ankaragücü | 2023–24 | Süper Lig | 19 | 2 | 3 | 1 | — | 22 | 3 | |
| 2024–25 | TFF First League | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | ||
| Total | 23 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 3 | ||
| Sivasspor | 2024–25 | Süper Lig | 19 | 4 | 1 | 0 | — | 20 | 4 | |
| Career total | 328 | 65 | 42 | 11 | 34 | 5 | 404 | 81 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cape Verde | 2013 | 1 | 0 |
| 2014 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2015 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 5 | 2 | |
| 2018 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 2 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 4 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2025 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 54 | 8 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 September 2014 | Stade Général Seyni Kountché, Niamey, Niger |  Niger
|
1–0 | 3–1 | 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification | [35] |
| 2 | 13 June 2015 | Estádio da Várzea, Praia, Cape Verde |  São Tomé and Príncipe
|
3–0 | 7–1 | 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification | [36] |
| 3 | 5 September 2017 | Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban, South Africa |  South Africa
|
1–0 | 2–1 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification | [37] |
| 4 | 2–0 | ||||||
| 5 | 18 November 2019 | Estádio Nacional de Cabo Verde, Praia, Cape Verde |  Mozambique
|
1–0 | 2–2 | 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification | [38] |
| 6 | 7 October 2021 | Accra Sports Stadium, Accra, Ghana |  Liberia
|
2–1 | 2–1 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification | [39] |
| 7 | 17 January 2022 | Olembe Stadium, Yaoundé, Cameroon |  Cameroon
|
1–1 | 1–1 | 2022 Africa Cup of Nations | [40] |
| 8 | 14 January 2024 | Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium, Abidjan, Ivory Coast |  Ghana
|
2–1 | 2–1 | 2023 Africa Cup of Nations | [41] |
Cape Verde squads | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||
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.jpg/1331px-Cap-vert_vs_Ethiopi_(24).jpg "Garry Rodrigues")
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