Raquel "Rocky" Rodríguez Cedeño[a] (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.
Rodríguez 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.[2] Rodriguez, nicknamed Rocky, was raised in Costa Rica and moved to the United States where support for women's soccer offered more opportunity.[3][4] Her father, Sivianni Rodríguez, played professionally in Costa Rica with Herediano and the Costa Rica men's national team.[5]
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 was holding tryouts for a women's team. After trying out, she played for the under-15 team.[5] She played for the high school team while still attending elementary school.[5] Both Raquel and her brother, Sivianni, attended International Christian School.[5] She played for the school's team for a short while before committing to play for Costa Rica's national teams.[5]
Rodriguez was a four-year starter for the Penn State Nittany Lions.[2] 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.[6] 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.[2] As a senior, she won the Honda Sports Award as the nation's top soccer player.[7][8]
Rodríguez was selected second overall by Sky Blue FC in the 2016 NWSL College Draft.[9] 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.[10] In the 2017 season, Rodríguez scored the fastest goal in NWSL history, netting 24 seconds from kick-off against Portland Thorns FC.[11]
On 12 October 2017, Rodríguez joined Perth Glory for the 2017–18 W-League season. Rodríguez is the first Central American ever to play in the W-League.[12]
On 8 January 2020, Rodríguez was traded to Portland Thorns FC.[13] During the 2020 season, Rodriguez scored 1 goal. During the 2021 season, she scored 2 goals. During the 2022 season, she scored 3 goals. [14]
On 23 January 2024 Angel City FC announced they had acquired Rodríguez from the Portland Thorns in exchange for $275,000 in allocation money, with additional conditional funds to be paid against the transfer fee threshold.[15] After missing the first two games of the season due to concussion protocol, Rodríguez 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 3–3, but was the goal was ultimately disallowed after a VAR check, and the match ended as a 4–2 defeat.[16] Rodríguez started her first match the following match day, 13 April 2024, against the Chicago Red Stars which finished as a 0–1 victory, the teams first win of the season.[17] Rodríguez scored her first goal for Angel City on 19 June 2024, in a 3–2 victory against Racing Louisville FC.[18]
On 20 December 2024 Angel City announced that Rodríguez would be traded to Kansas City Current in exchange for $100,000 in intra-league transfer funds.[19]
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 1–1.[20][21] Rodriguez played in all of Costa Rica's three matches in the tournament.[22] During the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying tournament, Rodriguez scored five goals in the three group stage matches.[23]
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.[24]
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 30 April 2010 | Estadio Nacional de la UNAN-Managua, Managua, Nicaragua |  Nicaragua |
1–0 | 2–0 | 2010 CONCACAF Women's World Cup Qualifying qualification |
| 2. | 30 October 2010 | Estadio Quintana Roo, Cancún, Mexico |  Haiti |
2–0 | 3–0 | 2010 CONCACAF Women's Championship |
| 3. | 3–0 | |||||
| 4. | 2 October 2011 | Estadio Cementos Progreso, Guatemala City, Guatemala |  El Salvador |
1–2 | 6–2 | 2012 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament |
| 5. | 2–2 | |||||
| 6. | 4 October 2011 |  Honduras |
4–0 | 4–0 | ||
| 7. | 6 October 2011 |  Guatemala |
1–0 | 5–2 | ||
| 8. | 2–1 | |||||
| 9. | 4–2 | |||||
| 10. | 22 October 2011 | Estadio Omnilife, Guadalajara, Mexico |  Argentina |
2–3 | 3–3 | 2011 Pan American Games |
| 11. | 6 March 2013 | Estadio Ernesto Rohrmoser, San José, Costa Rica |  Belize |
1–0 | 14–0 | 2013 Central American Games |
| 12. | 2–0 | |||||
| 13. | 4–0 | |||||
| 14. | 7–0 | |||||
| 15. | 8 March 2013 | Nicaragua |
3–0 | 3–0 | ||
| 16. | 10 March 2013 | El Salvador |
1–0 | 3–1 | ||
| 17. | 12 March 2013 |  Panama |
2–0 | 3–0 | ||
| 18. | 22 May 2014 | Estadio Mateo Flores, Guatemala City, Guatemala | El Salvador |
2–0 | 4–0 | 2014 CONCACAF Women's Championship qualification |
| 19. | 24 May 2014 | Nicaragua |
1–0 | 3–0 | ||
| 20. | 26 May 2014 | Guatemala |
2–0 | 3–0 | ||
| 21. | 3–0 | |||||
| 22. | 18 October 2014 | Toyota Park, Bridgeview, United States |  Jamaica |
2–1 | 2–1 | 2014 CONCACAF Women's Championship |
| 23. | 9 June 2015 | Olympic Stadium, Montreal, Canada |  Spain |
1–1 | 1–1 | 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup |
| 24. | 13 February 2016 | Toyota Stadium, Frisco, United States |  Puerto Rico |
2–0 | 9–0 | 2016 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Championship |
| 25. | 6–0 | |||||
| 26. | 9–0 | |||||
| 27. | 15 February 2016 |  Mexico |
1–0 | 2–1 | ||
| 28. | 2–0 | |||||
| 29. | 19 February 2016 | BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, United States |  Canada |
1–2 | 1–3 | |
| 30. | 27 August 2018 | IMG Academy, Bradenton, United States | El Salvador |
6–0 | 11–0 | 2018 CONCACAF Women's Championship qualification |
| 31. | 29 August 2018 | Nicaragua |
2–0 | 4–1 | ||
| 32. | 31 August 2018 | Panama |
1–0 | 3–1 | ||
| 33. | 2–0 | |||||
| 34. | 31 July 2019 | Estadio Universidad San Marcos, Lima, Peru |  Peru |
1–1 | 3–1 | 2019 Pan American Games |
| 35. | 3–1 | |||||
| 36. | 8 October 2019 | Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, Alajuela, Costa Rica | El Salvador |
1–0 | 5–0 | 2020 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Championship qualification |
| 37. | 2–0 | |||||
| 38. | 28 January 2020 | BBVA Stadium, Houston, United States | Panama |
2–0 | 6–1 | 2020 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Championship |
| 39. | 31 January 2020 | Haiti |
1–0 | 2–0 | ||
| 40. | 2–0 | |||||
| 41. | 30 November 2021 | Estadio Nacional, San José, Costa Rica | Nicaragua |
4–2 | 5–2 | Friendly |
| 42. | 17 February 2022 |  Saint Kitts and Nevis |
6–0 | 7–0 | 2022 CONCACAF W Championship qualification | |
| 43. | 20 February 2022 | Bethlehem Soccer Stadium, Saint Croix, US Virgin Islands |  U.S. Virgin Islands |
2–0 | 6–0 | |
| 44. | 4–0 | |||||
| 45. | 9 April 2022 | Stadion Rignaal Jean Francisca, Willemstad, Curaçao |  Curaçao |
1–0 | 4–0 | |
| 46. | 2–0 | |||||
| 47. | 4–0 | |||||
| 48. | 5 July 2022 | Estadio BBVA, Guadalupe, Mexico | Panama |
1–0 | 3–0 | 2022 CONCACAF W Championship |
| 49. | 11 October 2022 | Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá, San José, Costa Rica |  Philippines |
1–1 | 2–1 | Friendly |
| 50. | 6 April 2023 | Stadion Miejski im. Władysława Króla, Łódź, Poland |  Poland |
1–1 | 2–1 | |
| 51. | 25 September 2023 | Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, Alajuela, Costa Rica | Saint Kitts and Nevis |
3–0 | 11–0 | 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup qualification |
| 52. | 8–0 | |||||
| 53. | 4 December 2023 | SKNFA Technical Center, Basseterre, St. Kitts & Nevis | Saint Kitts and Nevis |
11–0 | 19–0 | |
| 54. | 6 April 2024 | Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, Alajuela, Costa Rica | Peru |
1–0 | 5–1 | Friendly |
Penn State Nittany Lions
Portland Thorns FC
Individual
