Rodrigo Goldberg

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Goldberg and the second or maternal family name is Mierzejewski.

Rodrigo Goldberg
Goldberg in 2017
Personal information
Full name Rodrigo Alejandro Goldberg Mierzejewski
Date of birth (1971-08-09) 9 August 1971 (age 53)
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 the 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 opposition 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.