Naldo (footballer, born 1982)


Ronaldo Aparecido Rodrigues, commonly known as Naldo, is a Brazilian professional footballer who primarily plays as a centre back. From 2007 to 2009, he made four appearances for the Brazilian national team.

Club career

Naldo began his football career playing for RS Futebol at the youth level before playing for them professionally. After two years at RS Futebol, Naldo joined Juventude for one season, where, playing alongside Thiago Silva, he made thirty-six appearances and scored eight goals.

Werder Bremen

His talent in Brazil led to Naldo signing with Werder Bremen in the summer of 2005, to replace Valérien Ismaël who left for Bayern Munich for €3 million and shortly after was given the number four shirt. Furthermore, he was capable of playing across the back line. In the opening game of the season, Naldo made his debut in a 5–2 win over Arminia Bielefeld. His first goal came in November 2005, in a 6–1 win over Wolfsburg. After missing one match, due to injury, Naldo scored his second goal of the season, in a 4–1 win over FC Köln on 11 December 2005. In his first season, Naldo played in all but two of Bremen's Bundesliga games and in seven of their eight Champions League fixtures, along with two appearances in Champions League Qualifiers.
In the 2006–07 season, Naldo started the season well and scored his first goal in a 6–0 win over Bochum on 14 October 2006. Naldo scored a hat-trick against Eintracht Frankfurt, which ended as a 6–2 win for Werder Bremen on 9 December 2006. In doing so, he became the only defender to score a hat trick in the Bundesliga. Naldo scored his first UEFA Champions League goal in a 2–0 win over Levski Sofia on 18 October 2006. The third place in the Champions League group stage secured Werder Bremen a place in the UEFA Cup. In Bremen's first game in the competition, he scored in a 3–1 first-leg win over Ajax which helped Bremen reach the next round despite losing 3–1 in the second leg. The club advanced through the knock-out stage until they were eliminated in the semi-final by Espanyol. With one game left at the end of the season, Naldo scored an own goal, which handed victory to Eintracht Frankfurt, in a 2–1 loss. Just as in his first season, Naldo played in all but two of Bremen's Bundesliga games in 2006–07 season, as well as in every European fixture. At the end of the season, Naldo extended his contract with the club until 2012.
In the 2007–08 season, Naldo remained in the first team spotlight, where he formed a partnership with Per Mertesacker and scored his first goal of the season in a 1–1 draw against Schalke 04 on 27 October 2007. During the 2007–08 season, Naldo was involved in an incident at training after clashing with Boubacar Sanogo. However, manager Schaaf played down the incident. Once again, Naldo played in all but two of Bremen's Bundesliga games in the 2007–08 season, due to suspension, and in all their Champions League fixtures, along with two in Champions League qualifiers.
In the 2008–09 season, Naldo scored with his right foot his first goal of the season in a 5–2 win over Bayern Munich, the first time Bremen won at the Allianz Arena. Naldo soon suffered a setback due to injuries during the season, as well as receiving a red card on 1 March 2009 against Bayern Munich. In the UEFA Cup round of sixteen, he scored the only goal in the first leg win over Saint-Étienne. He scored in the 2009 UEFA Cup Final to level the game at 1–1, however his team went on to lose the game 2–1 to Shakhtar Donetsk after extra time. After the match, Naldo was seen crying uncontrollably. At the end of the season, Naldo played in all but six of Bremen's Bundesliga games in 2008–09 season, in seven of their eight Champions League fixtures, and all of the UEFA Cup fixtures. Despite not winning the UEFA Cup, the club would, nevertheless, win the DFB-Pokal after beating Bayer Leverkusen 1–0.
Ahead of the 2009–10 season, Naldo was linked with a move to Ligue 1 side Olympique de Marseille The transfer speculation ended when he signed a contract extension to keep him at the club until 2013. Manager Thomas Schaaf was delighted with Naldo's new deal due to the fact that he was then considered as a key player at Werder Bremen. Naldo started the season well when he scored his first goal of the season, in a 5–0 win over Union Berlin. However, Naldo suffered a thigh injury and missed the first two matches of the opening season. Upon his return, Naldo scored two goals in two matches, with both games a victory against Borussia Mönchengladbach and Hertha. On 20 March 2010, Naldo captained Werder Bremen for the first time against Bochum and provided an assist to one of the goals in a 3–2 win. In the first leg of the fourth round of Europa League, he scored twice in a 6–3 win over Aktobe and the club would go through to the group stage in a 2–0 win in the second leg. In the DFB-Pokal, Naldo scored three goals in the competition and the club reached the final. In the final, against Bayern Munich, he started in the central defence with Per Mertesacker, in a 4–0 loss.
Towards the end of the 2009–10 season, Naldo sustained a serious knee injury in a match against Wolfsburg on 17 April 2010, after a challenge with Grafite. He suffered a bone edema on the right knee, but recovered after taking painkillers, and played the remaining fixtures for the club, but the injury then caused him to miss the entire 2010–11 season. He had many surgeries in Germany but went back to Brazil to have the surgery on his knee, after the club's management was against having German doctors. He was operated on by the Brazil national football team physician, José Luiz Runco. An operation on his knee revealed that he damaged his cartilage. This injury would take at least nine months to recover and the doctors feared that the cartilage damage could later lead to other knee problems.
He made his comeback in mid August 2011, appearing for Bremen in a friendly match against St. Pauli, and subsequently returned to Bundesliga action on 19 September 2011, after coming on as a substitute in a late minute 2–0 Nordderby win over Hamburger SV, where he played his first league match in fifteen months. One month later, he told Kreiszeitung Syke that he was pleased with overcoming his injury nightmare, and felt happy on his return. Naldo scored his first goal in over a year in a 2–0 win over Stuttgart on 27 November 2011. Naldo then injured his knee ligament and was sidelined for months. During the recovery, Naldo was linked with a return to Brazil, as supposedly Internacional was interested. But the move was rejected by Werder Bremen and he was convinced to stay by Schaaf after expressing he desire to leave. After making his return, Naldo scored in a 2–2 draw against Borussia Mönchengladbach on 10 April 2012.
After the 2011–12 season ended, Naldo's future at Werder Bremen was uncertain despite he was intent keen staying. In May, Naldo revealed that the club had not yet received offers for him.

Wolfsburg

On 18 July 2012, Naldo moved to Wolfsburg on a four-year contract for a fee of €3 million, which would rise to €4m.
Naldo made his competitive debut in a 5–0 win over Schönberg 95 and setting a goal for Ivica Olić, who would score a hat-trick in the first round of DFB-Pokal and made his league debut in the opening season in a 1–0 win over Stuttgart. His performance was criticised by manager Felix Magath. As a result, Naldo was demoted to the second team. Magath would be sacked after only five points in eight matches. After that, Naldo returned to the first team. Despite suffering from a hamstring injury, Naldo made thirty-one appearances and scored six times.
In the 2013–14 season, Naldo started the season well when he scored his first goal of the season in a 4–0 win over Schalke 04 on 17 August 2013. Naldo then was given a captaincy in number of games. Having made thirty-three appearances for the club, Naldo signed a new two-year contract on 16 May 2014.
In the 2014–15 season, Naldo captained in the opening game of the season, as Bayern Munich beat Wolfsburg 2–1. He also was captain in the next game and scored his first goal, in a 2–2 draw against Frankfurt. Naldo also scored in the Europa League round of sixteen match, in a 3–1 win over Inter Milan. Naldo then played the whole 90 minutes in the DFB-Pokal Final against Borussia Dortmund and was involved in an assist that led Luiz Gustavo scoring an equaliser, with Wolfsburg eventually winning 3–1 for their first cup honour. Naldo made thirty-two appearances and scored seven goals in the 2014–15 season.
In the 2015–16 season, Naldo was given the captaincy following Diego Benaglio's absence and played 120 minutes as captain in the DFL-Supercup against Bayern Munich. Wolfsburg won 5–4 on penalty shootout. On 8 December 2015, Naldo scored two goals, in a 3–2 win over Manchester United, which saw them eliminated from the Champions League. Naldo was first team regular at Wolfsburg until he suffered a shoulder injury during a 2–0 loss against Bayern Munich. Naldo finished the 2015–16 season, making twenty-nine appearances for the club.

Schalke 04

On 15 May 2016, it was announced that Naldo would join Schalke 04 on a two-year deal, after his contract with Wolfsburg expired. Upon joining the club, Naldo criticised the club's sporting director Klaus Allofs for not giving him a new contract at the club. Naldo was previously linked with a move to Manchester United before joining Schalke 04. In his second season at Schalke, Naldo came third in the race for German Footballer of the Year, finishing behind Nils Petersen and Toni Kroos.

Monaco

On 3 January 2019, Naldo joined Ligue 1 club Monaco on a one-and-a-half-year deal. In his first two league games for the club, he received a red card. He was sent off twice in seven days.
After playing no competitive match in the 2019–20 season, his contract with Monaco was terminated on 17 January 2020.

International career

In March 2007, Naldo was called up by his then Brazil Manager Dunga for the Brazil squad. Despite not playing, Naldo was then included in Brazil's squad for the Copa América, which Brazil went on to win, once again defeating Argentina in the final. Naldo made his full debut in England's first match at the new Wembley Stadium on 1 June 2007 as they drew 1–1 with England.
Since his debut, Naldo was called up by the national football team numerous times, but did not play.

Style of play

He plays as a versatile two-footed central defender. He stands at 1.98 metres tall and this height, combined with his jumping and heading ability, makes him a big threat in aerial contests. He is also well known for his set piece skill and according to Dunga, who coached him at the 2007 Copa América, he can hit the ball in excess of 60 mph using the cannonball free kick method, associated with other fellow Brazilians such as Roberto Carlos, Alex, David Luiz and Adriano.
During his time at Werder Bremen, he was the club's fan favourite in the regular team. During his first few weeks at Bremen, fans likened him to an Ox due to his immense height and athletic build, as a result he was nicknamed The Beast, a name shared with players Júlio Baptista, Jonathan Parkin, Brian Jensen and Adebayo Akinfenwa. His teammate Tim Wiese described him as a best central defender in the league. His manager at Werder Bremen, Thomas Schaaf, described him as "probably the most talented defender in Brazil".

Personal life

Naldo is a devout Christian and has a large back-piece tattoo depicting Jesus on the cross with two angels on either side, one holding a guitar the other holding a heart. Over the tattoo it says in Portuguese "De Todo o Nos Livrai time Amém". The tattoo was done by Frank Kassebaum and describing it Naldo states "I am very religious, and have faith in God. It is to my family and will always protect me." In addition, Naldo has the names of his wife Carla and his son Naldinho tattooed on his forearms.
In December 2014, Naldo received German citizenship, having lived in Germany since 2005, as well, as his wife and his two children, Naldinho and Liz. Naldo also speaks fluent Portuguese and German.
In March 2016, Naldo and fellow Bundesliga defender Sebastian Langkamp handed out the awards at the Berlin-based 11mm Film Festival.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

Werder Bremen
VfL Wolfsburg
Brazil