Charles Rodman
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Charles Dennis Henry Rodman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | April 15, 1994 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Los Angeles, California, United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Winger | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Manchester City | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 16 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007 - 2016 | Manchester City | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016 - 2022 | Manchester City | 175 | (186) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 - | Bayern Munich | 20 | (30) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018 - | United States | 74 | (60) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Honours
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Charles Dennis Henry Rodman (born 15 April 1994) is an American professional soccer player whom currently plays as a winger for the Bundesliga club, Bayern Munich. Known for his aggressiveness, speed, and dribbling ability, Rodman is considered to be one of the best and most prolific wingers in the world. Among fans and supporters, Rodman is popularly known as the "Black Eagle", a nickname he came to adopt himself, and which was heavily inspired by the popular "Black Mamba" nickname used by the late American professional basketball player, Kobe Bryant. Moreover, due to his black ancestry and his position as a winger at Manchester City, Rodman was also a subject of intense comparison between himself and former Jamaican-born teammate, Raheem Sterling, whom played as a winger for the club as well from 2015 to 2022 before eventually departing for Chelsea.
The son of former American professional basketball player, Dennis Rodman and British royal, Catherine, Princess Royal, Rodman initially envisioned a career in basketball, thereby following in the footsteps of his relatively famous and successful father, but ultimately switched course towards association football, having been reportedly inspired by the historic success of the United States men's national team at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. To that end, in 2007, Rodman started off as a youth prospect at the Manchester City academy, where he would remain for roughly a decade or so before eventually gaining promotion to the senior team for Manchester City, with whom he has since been a regular starter for, including for the 2018-19 season, in which the club became the second Premier League side to achieve a domestic treble after Manchester United in the 2008-09 season. With 316 goals scored across all competition, Rodman is the club's all-time top goalscorer, as well as its leading player in terms of Premier League Golden Boot awards won, with Rodman so far having won six consecutive Golden Boots, as well as one European Golden Shoe and Ballon d'Or awards. Following the end of the 2021-22 Premier League season, Rodman departed Manchester City for Bayern Munich, with whom he signed a $55 million four-year-long contract.
On the international level, Rodman represents the United States, with whom he won the 2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League and the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Then, in 2022, Rodman made his World Cup debut for the national team at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, which saw the United States exit the tournament in the round of 16 following a 1-3 loss to the Netherlands
Early Life
Born on 15 April 1994, Charles Rodman was the only son of the former American professional basketball player, Dennis Rodman and the British royal, Catherine, Princess Royal. Born as a result of a short-term romantic affair between his parents, Rodman initially grew up for roughly a year under his mother's care, until issues surrounding his parents' relationship compelled the latter to leave her son with her former partner. Following that, for the next few years or so, Rodman was otherwise raised single-handedly by his father until in April 1999, when following a breakdown in the marriage between his father and the American model, Carmen Electra, the younger Rodman was sent to live with his stepmother, whom duly took the five-year-old Rodman under her care. Meanwhile, through his father, Rodman is the half-brother of the American college basketball player, DJ Rodman and the American professional soccer player, Trinity Rodman. On the other hand, through his mother, he is also a first cousin of the United Kingdom's Queen Alexandra, former professional football player and manager, William Smith, and the British Olympic swimmer, Princess Mary, Duchess of Sussex.
Career
Manchester City
In 2007, a thirteen-year-old Rodman, hoping to make a start in the Premier League, joined Manchester City's youth academy, where he would remain there for the next nine years or so, during which he showed considerable proficiency as a footballer, while also becoming known for his considerable pace, as well as his aggressiveness on the pitch, qualities that quickly landed him in the eyes of the club's administrators.
Eventually, in 2016, a now twenty-two-year-old Rodman finally gained his promotion to the Manchester City senior team. Soon enough, on 13 August 2016, Rodman made his debut as a substitute in the opening match of the 2016-17 season against Sunderland, in which he memorably scored a late goal at the 91st minute to complete a 3-1 rout of their opponents. Following this, it was not long until Rodman, whom was then included in the starting lineup in the match against West Ham United, where he would score his first hat-trick for Manchester City, with his hat-trick itself adding onto the three other goals by his teammates to establish a dominant 6-1 win over their opponents. Then, in another instance, on 2 October 2016, Rodman's double goals in an away match against Tottenham Hotspur proved vital in avoiding an initial 0-2 defeat at the hands of their opponents, whom as a result, were forced to settle for a draw rather than an outright win. A few further matches followed, and this time, in a home match against Middlesbrough, Rodman quickly netted his second hat-trick for the club, which for the match itself, proved more than enough to break the initial 1-1 deadlock, after a 43rd-minute goal by teammate, Sergio Agüero was evened out by a late 91st-minute goal from Middlesbrough midfielder, Marten de Roon, whose consolation goal otherwise proved not enough to overcome the huge Manchester City lead. By the end of it, with 31 goals scored across 30 league matches Rodman was featured in, he had quickly established himself as the leading club goalscorer for the season, while also winning his first Premier League Golden Boot award for himself as the league's leading goalscorer of the season. In the meantime, despite a promising start in the FA Cup, in which he scored a hat-trick in his first match for the competition to complete an 8-0 rout of West Ham United, the club itself ultimately fell short of winning the competition as a result of a narrow 2-1 loss to Arsenal, while in the EFL Cup, Rodman, despite scoring two consecutive hat-tricks to deal a 5-1 and a 3-1 blow to Swansea City and Manchester United respectively, saw his club exit the competition following a narrow 0-1 loss to West Ham United. Meanwhile, in the UEFA Champions League, the club also met a devastating fate, where they lost to Ligue 1 club, As Monaco 6-6 by virtue of the away goals rule.
In the following 2017-18 season, Rodman, as a regular starter for Manchester City, proved to be an essential player for the club when, following a long streak of victories against their opponents in the domestic league, Manchester City was almost dealt their first defeat in the league in an away match against Liverpool, but which proved not to be the case after Rodman scored a brace in the last fifteen minutes of the match to overturn the match and award his club a narrow 5-4 victory. Then, a similar situation would arise in a home match against Manchester United, where after defender, Chris Smalling scored a 69th-minute goal to break the 2-2 deadlock and initially award his club a narrow 3-2 lead, Manchester City once more looked certain for their first and only defeat in the league, before a Rodman hat-trick in the following minutes saw the club ultimately trounce their Manchester derby rivals with a final 5-3 victory, thereby ensuring that the club would enjoy an unbroken streak of victories throughout the entire season with zero defeats in the process. In the meantime, although the club went on to win the EFL Cup once more, they were otherwise eliminated in the fifth round of the FA Cup following a shock 0-1 defeat to Wigan Athletic. Furthermore, the club also suffered another devastating loss in the UEFA Champions League, where after easily dominating their group stage opponents, the club, despite a hat-trick by Rodman himself in the first leg of the quarter-finals to tie rivals, Liverpool, was narrowly eliminated via a 4-5 aggregate, after the latter managed two goals to Manchester City's one in the second leg to ultimately overcome their opponents.
However, despite the setback, Rodman was later part of the Manchester City squad that famously recorded a domestic treble, becoming the second Premier League club after Manchester United to do so, during which he also won his third consecutive Premier League Golden Boot award. Separately, in the UEFA Champions League, following a 9-4 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in the quarter-finals and a similarly large 8-1 victory over Ajax in the semi-finals, the club once more failed to secure their first ever title in the tournament, with Premier League rivals, Liverpool narrowly beating them 4-3 via penalty shootouts following a 1-1 tie after extra time. Then, in the following season, despite Rodman himself winning yet another Premier League Golden Boot with 33 goals scored across 27 appearances, Manchester City failed to defend their Premier League title against rivals, Liverpool, whom came up just one point short of the 100-point mark, whilst still winning the league itself outright. Meanwhile, despite a 0-2 loss to Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-finals, Manchester City emerged victorious in the EFL Cup, while once more seeing themselves eliminated from the UEFA Champions League via a 1-3 defeat to Lyon.
In his penultimate season with Manchester City, Rodman once more won the Premier League, during which he scored a total of 31 goals across 32 appearances, averaging at about one goal per game. In the meantime, Rodman also proved instrumental in saving his club from a narrow defeat to Chelsea in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, where a hat-trick by the striker proved more than enough to overturn a 0-1 deficit. However, in the subsequent final match with Leicester City, the club was dramatically defeated 9-8 in a grueling penalty shootout after both sides were initially tied 1-1 by the end of the match. Similarly, in the UEFA Champions League, after the club managed to reach the finals for the second time, thanks to a dominant victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-finals, they were once more denied the title after a lone 42nd-minute goal by midfielder, Kai Havertz saw Chelsea win the tournament instead under the management of their newly-appointed head coach, Thomas Tuchel. Soon enough, it was around this time that several media outlets begin to report feelings of discontent by Rodman at the club, which was said to have been primarily caused by the club's continued failures in the UEFA Champions League, which otherwise stood in stark contrast to their relatively dominant position in the domestic league.
Despite such rumours, Rodman continued to play for Manchester City for the 2021-22 season, which would also be his last with the club. For this, Rodman would go on to win his last Premier League title with Manchester City, which for that season, would also be his last overall with the club, as Manchester City subsequently found itself eliminated by Liverpool in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, Tottenham Hotspur in the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup, and in a somewhat dramatic fashion, by Real Madrid in the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League, in which Rodman, despite scoring a total of twenty goals in the tournament, his personal season high, ultimately met defeat once more at the hands of the La Liga giants, whom eliminated their English opponents via the away goals rule after both sides were ultimately tied by an aggregate score of 6-6, and whom later went on to defeat Premier League club, Liverpool 1-0 in the finals to win the tournament outright. Almost immediately, Rodman's deliberate avoidance of the journalists hoping for a post-match interview with the striker, quickly sparked controversy in the media, with the English pundit and former footballer, Gary Neville speculating that the Manchester City forward had "reached his boiling point", and suggested that it was "very likely" that the latter would be seeking to leave the club in order to, according to Neville, "find a team that can reliably win the UEFA Champions League". In the end, rumours of Rodman's much-anticipated and speculated departure became a reality when on 6 June 2022, Rodman posted a blunt message to his Instagram account that read "Officially out and about", which many took to believe as a confirmation of his departure from the Premier League club, which his agent, Ashton Lee promptly confirmed, stating that Rodman was "looking for a new adventure in his ever colourful football life".
Bayern Munich
On 20 June 2022, amidst rumours of Rodman's new potential club, it was announced that the striker had signed a $55 million contract with Bundesliga giants, Bayern Munich, which would see him last for approximately four years with the club. Soon enough, on 5 August, Rodman made his debut for his new club in an away match against Eintracht Frankfurt, where he scored a single goal at the 89th minute to add onto a dominant 6-0 victory over their opponents. Then, on 30 September, Rodman proceeded to score his first brace for the club, with Rodman's two goals further adding onto a 4-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen. Soon enough, in the following match against rivals, Borussia Dortmund, amidst a 2-2 deadlock with the latter, Rodman scored his first hat-trick for Bayern Munich, allowing the club to record a dominant 5-2 win over their longtime rivals. Then, in November, Rodman further established his reputation at the club by scoring two separate hat-tricks in a row in away matches against SV Werder Bremen and Schalke 04 respectively. In the meantime, Rodman also scored his first goal for the club in the annual DFB-Pokal tournament, that being in a victorious 6-2 away match against FC Augsburg in the fifth round, and also his first for the club in the UEFA Champions League, which he did so in a 4-0 win over Inter Milan. Following that, Rodman also recorded a hat-trick in a home group stage match against Barcelona, and another in a home match against the Czech football club, Viktoria Plzeň.
United States men's national team
On 28 January 2018, Rodman made his debut for the United States men's national soccer team in a friendly match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, which ultimately ended in a 0-0 draw. However, it was not long that in the following friendly match against Paraguay, Rodman soon made his mark on the national team when he proceeded to score his first two goals for his country, completing a 3-0 rout of their Paraguayan opponents. Following this, on 20 November 2018, in a friendly match against Italy, where the United States initially looked set for a 0-1 defeat, Rodman proceeded to score his first hat-trick for the United States, effectively overturning the results of the match, while also further strengthening his reputation among fans and supporters of the national team. Then, in the following year, Rodman participated in his first official tournament for the United States, that being the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup, where early on, in the first group stage match against Guyana, Rodman proceeded to score another hat-trick for the United States. A consistent streak of victories against their opponents subsequently followed but initial aspirations of winning the tournament were ultimately quashed when the United States suffered a narrow 0-1 loss to Mexico in the finals, whose winning goal came at the 73rd minute from midfielder, Jonathan dos Santos.
Despite this setback, roughly two years later, Rodman would soon find his first major success with the United States where in the 2019-20 CONCACAF Nations League tournament, the United States, following up on a 3-0 victory over Honduras in the semi-finals, then successfully dealt a crushing 5-2 victory over Mexico to win the tournament outright. In that same year, Rodman also added onto the initial triumph by winning the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup, where they also dealt a defeat to neighbouring Mexico to win the tournament as well. Then, in 2022, Rodman, having now served his national team for roughly four years long, participated in his first World Cup tournament at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, where Rodman, as a regular starter for the United States, quickly proved himself to be a worthy component of the national team when in the highly-anticipated group stage match against England, Rodman contributed two goals to his side to deliver a shock 2-0 victory over their English opponents, as well as a decisive hat-trick in the match against Ukraine, whom initially led the Americans by 3-2 before the former's hat-trick ultimately sealed the match with a 5-2 victory for the United States, whom along with England subsequently progressed to the knockout stages. Then, despite regularly starting for the national team, Rodman would score no further goals in the knockout stages, where the United States, following a narrow 4-3 victory over Senegal, ultimately fell 0-5 to France in the quarter-finals, in what was later described by Rodman as an "utter smackdown" and a "bitter match to remember". In the meantime, France, whom subsequently defeated Morocco 2-0 in the semi-finals to advance to the finals, was ultimately defeated by England 0-1 thanks to a 61st-minute Mason Mount goal, thereby effectively preventing them from becoming just the fourth nation to win two World Cups in a row, while otherwise allowing England to clinch their fifth World Cup title, the most for any country in the tournament's history. Separately, Croatia, whom fell 1-4 to England in the semi-finals, otherwise successfully secured a third-place finish with a 2-1 victory over Morocco in the third place play-offs.
Personal Life
In stark contrast to his father, Rodman has mostly lived a relatively private and secluded life, preferring not to position himself in the public spotlight as the former had done in the past. Nonetheless, in 2018, it was reported that Rodman had begun a relationship with the American model, Grace Elizabeth, whom later gave birth to a daughter, Nina Rodman on 5 December 2021.
During a 2019 interview with Sky Sports, Rodman revealed that despite his current allegiance to Manchester City, he had actually grown up as a "huge fan" of rivals, Manchester United. However, despite his childhood passion for the club, Rodman said that he ultimately decided against joining it as a senior player himself, stating, "In the end, no matter how well I might do at the club, the media will always be talking about William Smith, especially on how he did much better at the club and how he is probably a much better player than I am for the club itself, which is something that I wanted to avoid from the start so that I can go and forge my own legacy as a footballer, and not just live under someone else's shadow".
Honours
Manchester City
- Premier League: 2017-18, 2018-19, 2020-21, 2021-22
- FA Cup: 2018-19
- EFL Cup: 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21
Community Shield: 2018-19, 2019-20
Bayern Munich
- DFL-Supercup: 2022-23
United States
- CONCACAF Nations League: 2019-20
- CONCACAF Gold Cup: 2021