79. J. Rodrigues

Born in the town of Oeiras (in the region of Lisbon), João Rodrigues played for Paço de Arcos from 1995. He rose through the youth ranks to debut in the senior side when he was only 16 years old, during the 2006/07 campaign. His quality also attracted the attention of the Portuguese coaches, who picked him in all the youth championships, and in the 2009/10 season he signed for Benfica.

He went on to win 16 titles spread across every possible club competition, and in the two seasons before arriving at Barça, (2016/17 and 2017/18), he was the highest goal scorer in the Portuguese League, with 52 and 50 goals respectively.

He made his debut for the Portuguese senior side in 2011 at the Montreux Nations Cup and was selected for the European Championships of 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018, the Cups of Nations (2013 and 2015) and the World Cups of 2013, 2015 and 2017.

He arrived at Barça Lassa in the summer of 2018 after nine seasons in which he enjoyed the love of the Da Luz fans.

TECHNICAL PROFILE

Rodrigues is a left-hander who likes to come inside at every opportunity. He has great presence in the area - in part, thanks to a height of 1’86 - and is always ready to finish. The Portuguese stands out as a penalty specialist and is the second hockey player from that country to play for Barça. The first was Carlos Realista during the 1987/88 season.