Rodrigo Goldberg

Chilean footballer (born 1971)

Rodrigo Goldberg
Goldberg in 2017
Personal information
Full name Rodrigo Alejandro Goldberg Mierzejewski
Date of birth (1971-08-09) 9 August 1971 (age 52)
Place of birth Santiago, Chile
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
Universidad de Chile
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1997 Universidad de Chile 67 (11)
1992–1993 → Santiago Wanderers (loan) 61 (25)
1997–2003 Maccabi Tel Aviv 75 (28)
1998–1999 → Universidad Católica (loan) 19 (5)
2005–2006 Santiago Morning 37 (6)
Total 259 (75)
International career
1995–2001 Chile 13 (4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Rodrigo Alejandro Goldberg Mierzejewski (born 9 August 1971) is a Chilean former professional footballer who played as a striker. He gained national notoriety in Israel for his talented play with Maccabi Tel Aviv and good use of the Hebrew language.[1] At international level, he made 13 appearances for the Chile national team scoring 4 goals.

Time in Israel

Goldberg was an integral part of the Maccabi Tel Aviv squad that took back to back cup titles and a league championship thereafter.[2] He had a strained relationship with club captain Avi Nimni and verbally criticized him in the Israeli media before returning to Chile.[3]

Return to Chile

After playing for four seasons in Israel, Goldberg returned to Chile to play for Santiago Morning. During a club match against Palestino, he was subjected to anti-Semitic abuse from the oppositions supporters because of his Polish and German Jewish background.[4] Goldberg is, however, a Catholic, as a result of the conversion of his grandparents.[5]

After football

Goldberg graduated as an Industrial Civil Engineer at the San Sebastián University.[6]

Since 2006, he has worked as a football commentator and analyst in both radio and TV media such as Canal del Fútbol,[7] Fox Sports[8] and Radio Cooperativa. In addition to this, he worked for TVN during the 2011 Copa América.[7] Also, he has worked for print media such as Publimetro [es] and La Tercera.[9]

From 2019 to 2021, Goldberg worked as Sports Director of Universidad de Chile alongside his former fellow footballer Sergio Vargas.[10]

Honours

Universidad de Chile

Maccabi Tel Aviv

References

  1. ^ Sagi, Miki (19 April 2006). רודריגו גולדברג: "קראו לי בצ'ילה יהודי זבל" (in Hebrew). Yedioth Ahronoth. Retrieved 21 May 2007.
  2. ^ Sagi, Miki (19 April 2006). "They called me Jewish garbage". Yedioth Ahronoth. Retrieved 21 May 2007.
  3. ^ Zenzifer, Nadav (10 March 2003). נמני: "גורמים במכבי הסיתו שחקנים נגדי" (in Hebrew). Iton Tel Aviv. Archived from the original on 23 February 2006. Retrieved 21 May 2007.
  4. ^ AFP (18 April 2006). "Insultos antisemitas en torneo chileno" (in Spanish). Univision.com. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 21 May 2007.
  5. ^ Eskenazi, Gerald (20 March 2012). "Chile's 'Jewish' soccer star". Retrieved 25 January 2014. I'm not Jewish. The only Hebrew word I knew was 'shalom.' My grandparents were German and Polish Jews, and they converted because in this country, it was easier to be Catholic
  6. ^ Alegrete, Lucía (29 June 2018). "Rodrigo Goldberg "Invertir con plata es re fácil, pero cuando no la tienes es súper complejo"" (in Spanish). Revista Valora. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  7. ^ a b "Rodrigo Goldberg" (in Spanish). Revista Qué Pasa. 18 August 2011. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  8. ^ "Rodrigo Goldberg asume conducción de noticiero de Fox" (in Spanish). La Tercera. 13 June 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  9. ^ Rodrigo Goldberg on LinkedIn
  10. ^ Parker, Matías (29 April 2021). "Sergio Vargas y Rodrigo Goldberg, los primeros cortados por los nuevos dueños de Azul Azul" (in Spanish). La Tercera. Retrieved 12 July 2022.

External links

  • Profile and statistics of Rodrigo Goldberg on One.co.il (in Hebrew)
  • Rodrigo Goldberg at BDFA (in Spanish)