Naldo

Ronaldo Aparecido Rodrigues (born 10 September 1982), commonly known as Naldo, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a centre back.

He is an assistant coach at Bundesliga club Schalke 04.

At the start of the 2004 season, Naldo joined Juventude and made his debut on 2 May 2004, coming on as a substitute, in a 4–0 win against Paraná Clube.

He then received his first start for the club, in a 1–0 win against Coritiba on 10 July 2004.

Seven days later on 17 July 2004, Naldo scored his first goal for the club from a free kick, in a 1–0 win against Flamengo.

Two weeks later on 1 August 2004, he scored his second goal for Juventude, in a 1–1 draw against Vasco da Gama.

Naldo helped the club keep four consecutive clean sheets in the next four matches between 5 August 2004 and 14 August 2004.

He scored his third goal of the season, once again from a free kick, in a 2–1 loss against Santos on 1 September 2004.

After missing several matches due to injury, Naldo scored on his return to the starting line–up against Athletico Paranaense on 7 October 2004.

At the end of the 2004 season, having played alongside Thiago Silva, he went on to make twenty–five appearances and scoring four times in all competitions.

At the start of the 2005 season, Naldo continued to remain in the first team for Juventude, playing in the centre–back position.

He scored his first goal of the season to score an equaliser, as the club drew 2–2 against Corinthians on 24 May 2005.

Naldo then scored three more goals, coming against Botafogo, Internacional and Flamengo.

In the summer of 2005, he reported agreed a move to Bundesliga side Werder Bremen.

By the time Naldo departed from the club, he went on to make thirty-six appearances and scored eight goals in all competitions.

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.

Upon joining the club, he was given the number four shirt.

Naldo made his Werder Bremen debut, starting the whole game, in a 5–2 win over Arminia Bielefeld in the opening game of the season.

He played in both legs against Basel in the UEFA Champions League Qualifying Round, as the club advanced to the group stage following a 3–3 draw through away goal.

Since joining Werder Bremen, Naldo quickly established himself in the starting eleven, playing in the centre–back position.

His first goal for Werder Bremen came on 18 November 2005 against Wolfsburg, in a 6–1 win.

However during a 2–1 loss against Schalke 04 on 26 November 2005, he suffered a shoulder injury that saw him miss one match.

Naldo returned to the starting line–up against FC Köln on 11 December 2005 and scored his second goal of the season, a free kick from 30 meters out in a 4–1 win.

Ten days later on 21 December 2005, he scored his third goal of the season, from a header in a 4–1 win against Hannover 96.

Naldo then helped the club keep three consecutive clean sheets between 25 March 2006 and 8 April 2006, including a 3–0 win against Bayern Munich.

Unfortunately, Werder Bremen ended up finishing second place behind Bayern Munich, but helped the club qualify for the UEFA Champions League next season.

In his first season at Werder Bremen, he played in all but two of the club's Bundesliga games and in seven of their eight Champions League fixtures, along with two appearances in Champions League Qualifiers, making a total of forty–five appearances and scoring three times in all competitions.

At the start of the 2006–07 season, Naldo started the season well when he started two matches in the DFL-Ligapokal to win the tournament, including a 2–0 win against Bayern Munich in the final.

Since the start of the 2006–07 season, Naldo continued to establish himself in the first team, playing in the centre–back position.

He then helped Werder Bremen keep three clean sheets in three matches between 30 September 2006 and 18 October 2006, and scored two goals against Bochum and Levski Sofia along the way.

A week later on 27 October 2006, Naldo scored his third goal of the season, in a 6–1 win against Mainz 05.

Naldo scored a hat-trick against Eintracht Frankfurt, which ended as a 6–2 win for Werder Bremen on 9 December 2006 and became the only defender to score a hat trick in the Bundesliga.

This was followed up by scoring his seventh goal of the season, in a 2–1 win against Wolfsburg.

From 2007 to 2009, he made four appearances for the Brazil national team.

Born in Londrina, Brazil, Naldo began his football career playing for RS Futebol at the youth level before playing for them professionally.

He spent two years at the club, making forty–seven appearances and scoring three times in all competitions.

On 14 February 2007, he scored his eighth goal of the season, in a 3–1 win against Ajax in the first leg of UEFA Cup Round of 32.

In the return leg, Naldo helped the club reach the next round despite losing 3–1 in the second leg.

He then helped Werder Bremen keep six consecutive clean sheets between 14 March 2007 and 8 April 2007, including two UEFA Cup matches against Celta de Vigo and AZ Alkmaar.

Naldo played in both legs of the UEFA Cup semi–finals against Espanyol, as the club lost 5–1 on aggregate.