What happened to Federico Rodríguez, the former forward of Alianza who could have changed the outcome of the 2019 final?

Being one of the biggest teams in the country, Alianza Lima has seen many footballers with different characteristics, both national and international. While many of them arrive with expectations, either because of their professional career or their performance, not all manage to convince the intimate fan.

This was the case of Federico Rodríguez, Uruguayan forward who arrived in mid-2019 as one of the reinforcements for the Clausura Tournament. With seven goals and one assist in his first 14 games played, the attacker was in the best form for the play-offs for the national title that year, but everything changed for him at that moment.

In a first final with many elements, Rodríguez scored the only goal for Alianza in the 4-1 defeat against Binacional in Juliaca. The defeat was painful for the team that was then led by Pablo Bengoechea, but the Uruguayan's discount goal was crucial, as the comeback of the intimes needed one less goal in the return leg.

'Cachito' Ramírez at 34' and an own goal by John Fajardo with 13 minutes to go lifted the crowd at Matute during the second leg of the final. The intimes only needed one goal to force extra time, but that goal did not come. Federico Rodríguez had the clearest opportunity to score at minute 90, when Aldair Salazar put a ball near the area and the forward managed to connect the ball alone in front of the goalkeeper, but the shot went over the crossbar. The whole stadium regretted the play that later meant two things: the title for the southern team and the grossest failure of his career.

The criticism did not stop throughout the blanquiazul preseason. The blow of losing, at that time, the 24th title was shocking for the intimes who were adding their second consecutive runner-up. Rodríguez received another opportunity, but it lasted very little. Before the start of the lockdown worldwide, the Uruguayan played six games and only scored one goal. The suspension of the Liga 1 did not sustain his continuity and he ended up leaving the club in mid-2020.

After leaving Alianza, Federico did not play for any other team during that year. In 2021, he signed with Deportivo Maldonado, a squad where he played for four months and only participated in 5 games. In April, he joined Cerrito, where he scored three goals and provided three assists in 18 matches. Currently, Rodríguez plays for Albión FC in the first division of Uruguay. With that team, he is a starter and has scored five goals and provided one assist in 19 games played.

Currently, Rodríguez has a value of 300,000 euros. At his peak, the forward had a price of 3.5 million euros when he left Peñarol and joined Genoa in Italy in 2011. Likewise, during his time at Alianza, he reached 450,000 euros.