Pedro Eliezer Rodríguez Ledesma

Pedro Eliezer Rodríguez Ledesma (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpeðɾo roˈðɾiɣeθ leˈðezma]; born 28 July 1987), commonly known as Pedro or Pedrito, is a Spanish footballer who plays for FC Barcelona and the Spanish national team, as a forward or winger.
He usually plays the ball with his left foot but is actually right-footed. He can play on either side of the pitch, and even fit in as a target man; he is excellent at finding the right position and has a strong long-range shot.
During the 2009–10 season at his main club, FC Barcelona, he became the first player in history to score in six different official club competitions in one season.^[1]
Pedro represented Spain at the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012, helping the national team win both tournaments.

Early years

Born in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Pedro joined FC Barcelona's youth team at the age of 17, having arrived from local side CD San Isidro.^[2]

Barcelona

Pedro was a key player for Barça's reserve team, as it achieved promotion from Tercera División, making 37 appearances and scoring seven goals.^[2] On 12 January 2008, he made his debuts for the first team, playing one minute in a 4–0 home win against Real Murcia, but would only amass seven more in his first two seasons combined.
Pedro was a part of the first team's 2008–09 pre-season, and showed early promise, scoring against Hibernian and the New York Red Bulls respectively.^[3][4] On 13 August, he started – later being substituted by Yaya Touré – in a 4–0 win against Polish side Wisła Kraków, for the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round.^[5] His first match on the group stage of that competition was on 16 September, when he replaced Thierry Henry in a 3–1 home win over Sporting Clube de Portugal.^[6]
In Barcelona's treble-winning season in 2008–09, Pedro eventually totalled 14 matches, also appearing in La Liga against Getafe CF (1–1 home draw),^[7] Valencia CF (4–0 home triumph),^[8] Real Valladolid (1–0 away win),^[9] CA Osasuna (0–1 home loss, with Barcelona already crowned champions),^[10] totalling 365 minutes. In the season's Copa del Rey, he played against Benidorm CF^[11] and Atlético Madrid, on both occasions for Lionel Messi.^[12] In the Champions League final, he played the last minute, in the place of Andrés Iniesta.

Pedro (left) and Xavi, during the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup.

In 2009–10, manager Pep Guardiola confirmed that Pedro would be definitely promoted to Barcelona's first team, and he responded with a breakthrough season, during which he became the first player to score in six different club competitions during a single season and in the same year.^[13] On 16 August, after assisting Xavi with the first goal, Pedro scored his first competitive goal for the first team in the 67th minute, helping to ensure a 2–1 victory over Athletic Bilbao in San Mamés, for the season's domestic Supercup.^[14] Later that week, he signed his professional contract, running until June 2014, with a buyout clause set at £60 million.^[2] In the 2009 UEFA Super Cup against FC Shakhtar Donetsk, he came on as a substitute for Zlatan Ibrahimović in the 80th minute, and went on to score the 1–0 winner in extra time.^[15]
On 28 September, Pedro scored his first goal in the Champions League after replacing Iniesta at halftime in a 2–0 win against FC Dynamo Kyiv.^[16] He continued his hot streak and scored his first league goal, against UD Almería, with a brilliant strike that sealed the 1–0 home triumph.^[17] A month later, on 28 October, he scored a brace in the first leg of the Spanish Cup round-of-32 match at Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa, for a 2–0 win^[18] (he also scored in the second leg, a 5–0 home rout).^[19]
More and more established in Barcelona's starting lineups, Pedro went on to score another brace in the league, in a 4–2 win against RCD Mallorca.^[20] He would continue his scoring touch in the Champions League, scoring one of two against F.C. Internazionale Milano.^[21]
On 16 December, Pedro scored a goal in the semi-final of the FIFA Club World Cup against Atlante FC, in 3–1 win. In doing so, he became the only player to score in six different club competitions in one season – the three domestic tournaments, the UEFA Champions League and Super Cup and the Club World Cup.^[22] He was later named World Player of the Week by Goal.com after his performances against RCD Espanyol, Atlante and Estudiantes de La Plata of Argentina, respectively.^[23]
In an emotional return to his hometown of CD Tenerife, on 10 January 2010, Pedro came on as a 76th-minute substitute, later helping to Ezequiel Luna's own goal in a 5–0 win; out of respect, he chose not to celebrate.^[24] On 10 April, he scored the second goal in a 2–0 win against Real Madrid, in his first appearance in El Clásico.^[25]
On 14 April, in a league match against Deportivo de La Coruña, opposing goalkeeper Daniel Aranzubia attempted to clear the ball from the top of the 16-yard box, and instead kicked the ball right to Pedro, who shot at goal from 40 yards with his left foot and scored, giving Barça a 2–0 lead – eventually 3–0.^[26] He also found the net in a 3–1 defeat in the first leg of Champions League semi-finals, against Inter at the San Siro.^[27]
In the last three league matches, Pedro scored for Barcelona, with the Catalans eventually renewing their league supremacy: against Tenerife again (4–1 win),^[28] the 3–2 winner at Sevilla FC^[29] and against Valladolid (4–0).^[30] He completed the 2009–10 season with 53 appearances in all competitions (31 starts) and 23 goals. On 9 June 2010, he signed a new five-year deal with Barcelona.^[31]
Pedro began the 2010–11 season firmly established in Barcelona's starting XI. On 29 November 2010, he scored the second goal in a 5–0 home win against Real Madrid, with Barça climbing to the first position in the league.^[32] The following month, he netted twice at Espanyol in the local derby, in a 5–1 win.^[33]
On 20 April 2011, Pedro scored against Real Madrid in the second half of the season's Spanish Cup final, but his goal was disallowed for offside, in an eventual 0–1 extra time loss.^[34] On 3 May, against the same opponent, in the Champions League semifinals second leg, he found Iker Casillas' net in a 1–1 home draw (3–1 aggregate win),^[35] for his 21st official goal of the campaign; in the Champions League final, he opened the score against Manchester United, in an eventual 3–1 win.^[36]
On 5 July 2011, Pedro extended his contract by one year, until 2016.^[37] His buyout clause was raised from €90m to €150m. After the purchase of Alexis Sánchez and the emergence of youth players like Isaac Cuenca and Cristian Tello, he featured less during the 2011–12 season, also being afflicted with some injuries;^[38] he did finish the campaign with 13 official goals, scoring a brace in the season's domestic cup final, a 3–0 win against Athletic Bilbao.^[39]

 

International career

On 20 May 2010, Pedro was included by Vicente del Bosque in Spain's 23-man squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.^[40] On the 29th, he made his debut in a 3–2 friendly win against Saudi Arabia, and earned his second cap shortly after, as a 58th minute substitute in a 1–0 win against South Korea.
On 8 June 2010, in the last friendly prior to the finals in South Africa, with Poland, Pedro scored his first international goal, and also assisted Fernando Torres, in a 6–0 victory. In the final stages, he appeared in five matches (three as a late substitute): on 7 July, in the semi-final against Germany, he started in place of Torres, who had been performing poorly in earlier matches. In the 82nd minute, with Spain leading 1–0, he attempted to score a goal himself rather than set up an unmarked Torres, although he performed well in the match.^[41] Despite this error, he was selected to start in the final, with the national team winning 1–0 against the Netherlands; at the hour-mark, he was replaced by Jesús Navas.




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