La Liga - Player Profle: Pedro Rodriguez Ledesma
Pedro whose full name is Pedro Elierzer Rodriguez Ledesma is a Spanish football striker and a 2010 FIFA World Cup winner. Pedro is more commonly known amongst his team mates as Pedrito. Pedro was born on 28th of July, 1987 in the city of Santa Cruz which is located in Spain.
Pedro is naturally right footed but he is also quite capable of using his weaker foot to good effect. The young Spanish footballer plays as a winger but he is also deployed as a second striker more often than not. His specialty is to take on defenders and beat them on pace or through skillful dribbling.
When Pedro was just seventeen years old, he joined Barcelona F.C’s youth academy. He arrived from another local Spanish club, CD San Isidro. The teenage footballing sensation was a key player in his Barcelona reserve team days. Barcelona’s youth team achieved its promotion from Tercera Division as Pedro made thirty seven appearances and scored seven goals.
On 12th of January, 2008 he had his debut for Barca’s first team as he played only one minute as a substitute in a four nil home win against Real Murcia. However, in the next two seasons that followed he only made seven more appearances for the Catalonian giants. In the 2008-2009 season, Pedro became an integral part of Barcelona’s first team squad as he showed early promise during pre-season matches against Hibernian and MLS team, New York Red Bulls respectively.
On 13th of August 2008, he started in a four nil win against Wilsa Krakow during the UEFA Champions League third stage qualification round. He was replaced late on in the match by Yayah Toure. His debut for Barcelona in the UEFA Champions’ League group stages came against Sporting Clube De Portugal, as he replaced Henry as a substitute.
In Barcelona’s most famous recent season 2008-2009, Pedro played a total of fourteen matches and also made a league appearance against Getafe CF, a match that eventually ended one all. He also played against Valencia in a four nil win at Nou Camp. Other matches that he played in included encounters against the likes of Real Valladolid and CA Osasuna, in Barcelona’s Copa Del Rey campaign, Pedro played a crucial part as he played against Benidorm CF and Athletico Madrid. He also had the opportunity to play in the UEFA Champions League final against Manchester United, as he came on as a substitute for Andres Iniesta.
In 2009-2010, Barcelona’s youth manager Josep Guardiola confirmed that Pedro would feature more frequently for the Spanish champions in their league season. He also made it clear that Pedro will be officially promoted from the youth and reserve team to the senior side. Pedro impressed during the season as he made consistently impressive performances, through his contributions Barca made it to the Spanish league title and also defeated Real Madrid at home and away during the La Liga season.
Pedro also featured for the Spanish national team during the FIFA 2010 World Cup; he played in the final match of the tournament against Holland as Spain went onto win the match by a single goal which was scored late on in the second half of extra time.
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