Pedro Eliezer Rodríguez Ledesma, commonly known as Pedro or Pedrito, is a Spanish professional
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 as winger or second striker; he is good at finding
the right position and has excellent technique.
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.
Pedro represented Spain in two World Cups and Euro 2012, winning once in each tournament.
Club career 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.
Barcelona
Pedro was a key player for FC Barcelona B, as it achieved promotion from Tercera División,
making 37 appearances and scoring seven goals.
On 12 January 2008 he made his debut 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.
On 13 August, he started in a 4–0 win against Wisła Kraków for the third qualifying round
of the UEFA Champions League.
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.
In Barcelona's treble-winning season in 2008–09 Pedro eventually totalled 14 matches, also
appearing in La Liga against Getafe CF, Valencia CF, Real Valladolid and CA Osasuna, totalling
365 minutes.
In the campaign's Copa del Rey he played against Benidorm CF and Atlético Madrid, on both
occasions for Lionel Messi; in the Champions League final, he played the last minute in
the place of Andrés Iniesta.
In 2009–10, manager Pep Guardiola confirmed that Pedro would be definitely promoted to
Barcelona's first team, and he responded with a breakthrough year, during which he became
the first player to score in six different club competitions during a single season and
in the same year.
On 16 August, after assisting Xavi with the first goal, he 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 domestic Supercup.
Later that week he signed his professional contract, running until June 2014 with a buyout
clause set at £60 million; 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 net the
only goal of the match in extra time.
On 28 September Pedro scored his first goal in the Champions League, after replacing Iniesta
at half-time in a 2–0 win against FC Dynamo Kyiv.
He continued his hot streak and netted his first in the league, against UD Almería,
with a brilliant strike that sealed the 1–0 home triumph; the following month he grabbed
a brace in the first leg of the Spanish Cup round-of-32 match at Cultural y Deportiva
Leonesa, for a 2–0 win.
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.
He would continue his scoring touch in the Champions League, netting one of two against
Inter Milan.
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 first player ever 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.
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.
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.
On 10 April he netted the second goal in a 2–0 win against Real Madrid, in his first
appearance in El Clásico.
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 in an eventual 3–0 win.
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.
In the last three league matches Pedro scored for Barcelona, with the Catalans eventually
renewing their league supremacy: against Tenerife again, the 3–2 winner at Sevilla FC and
against Valladolid.
He completed the 2009–10 season with 53 appearances in all competitions and 23 goals,
and, on 9 June, signed a new five-year deal with Barcelona.
Pedro began the 2010–11 campaign 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.
The following month he netted twice at Espanyol in the local derby, in a 5–1 success.
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.
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, 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.
On 5 July 2011 Pedro extended his contract by one year, until 2016.
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 2011–12, also being afflicted with
some injuries; he did finish the season with 13 official goals, scoring a brace in the
campaign's domestic cup final, a 3–0 win against Athletic Bilbao.
On 21 September 2013, Pedro scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 success at Rayo Vallecano.
On 22 December, in another away fixture, he added another three – all in the first half
and only nine minutes – to help Barcelona come from behind 0–2 and eventually win
5–2 over Getafe.
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.
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 exhibition game 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: 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 game.
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.
Pedro scored the first hat-trick of his professional career on 12 October 2012, netting after a
Jordi Alba strike in an eventual 4–0 away win over Belarus for the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.
International goals Honours
Club Barcelona
La Liga: 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13
Copa del Rey: 2008–09, 2011–12; Runner-up 2010–11, 2013–14
Supercopa de España: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013; Runner-up 2012
UEFA Champions League: 2008–09, 2010–11 UEFA Super Cup: 2009, 2011
FIFA Club World Cup: 2009, 2011 Barcelona B
Tercera División: 2007–08 Country
FIFA World Cup: 2010 UEFA European Championship: 2012
FIFA Confederations Cup: Runner-up 2013 Individual
Prince of Asturias Awards: 2010 Statistics
Club As of 17 May 2014
International As of match played 18 June 2014
References
External links FC Barcelona profile
BDFutbol profile National team data
Pedro at National-Football-Teams.com Pedro – FIFA competition record
2010 FIFA World Cup profile Pedro – UEFA competition record