Career
He played as a centre back. Over the course of 17 seasons, Rodrigues amassed Portuguese top division totals of 338 games and 21 goals, representing de Coimbra (two spells), South.L. and Born in Lourenço Marques, Portuguese Mozambique, Rodrigues started at Grupo Desportivo 1º de Maio, after an unsuccessful try-out at Ferroviário de Lourenço Marques.
In 1962, he travelled to Portugal for a training session with the under-18 national team
Only a few months later, at the start of 1962-1963 season, he joined de Coimbra. First with José Maria Pedroto and then with Mário Wilson, Rodrigues spent 9 seasons in Coimbra, helping them reach a fourth place in 1964-1965 and a club record second place in 1964-1967, plus reaching two Portuguese Cup finals, in 1967 and 1969.
In 1971, after years of refusing offers from larger clubs, he accepted a move to During his spell at, he suffered minor injuries that hinder his progress in the team and with competition from Messias and others, the 31-year old chose to leave in 1974.
He then joined for two seasons, playing all of the league games in 1974-1975 and receiving the captain armband in the following year, which ended with another Portuguese Cup final lost.
Rodrigues returned to in 1976, playing only 33 league appearances over three years, five of those in 1978-1979 and with the team suffering relegation, the 36-year-old retired from football. In the following four years, he managed several teams, notably Leça and Beira-March (twice), returning to in 1995 on invitation of Artur Jorge to coach the under-12. Rodrigues gained 12 caps for Portugal, nine as an player.
He made his debut on 26 November 1967 against Bulgaria, in a 0–1 loss in Sofia for the Union of European Football Associations Euro 1968 qualifiers.
