Moving 3,000 miles away from home isn’t easy. Raquel “Rocky” Rodríguez experienced that firsthand when she came to the United States, from her native Costa Rica.
Now a veteran within the National Women’s Soccer League, and 2022 NWSL champion with the Portland Thorns FC, Rodríguez spoke about her journey to the U.S., attending college at Penn State University and the pride she has for Costa Rica in an NBC Podcast, “My New Favorite Futbolista.”
Rodríguez was touted as a prodigy growing up in San José, Costa Rica. However, when she was younger, Rodríguez endured a lack of resources for women’s soccer players in the country. The midfielder said that, at age 7, she had “football running through my veins.” Her father, a few years prior, opened up a football school.
“She would play with kids who were three, four years older than her,” her dad, Sivianni Rodríguez, said. “We saw she adapted, and she even exceeded a lot. She had discipline and perseverance.”
Rodríguez wrote down her goals early on. She wanted to, due to the…
