Ronaldo Aparecido Rodrigues (born 10 September 1982), commonly known as Naldo, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He spent most of his professional career in Germany, playing in the Bundesliga for Werder Bremen, VfL Wolfsburg and Schalke 04. From 2007 to 2009, he made four appearances for the Brazil national team.
After his playing career, he briefly held a coaching role at former club Schalke.
Club career Juventude 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.
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.
Werder Bremen
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. 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. On 10 May 2007, he signed a contract extension with Werder Bremen, keeping him until 2012. With the club chasing the league title, Naldo, however, scored an own goal, in a 2–1 loss against Eintracht Frankfurt, putting Werder Bremen out of the title race and went on to finish third place in the league, resulting in the club's UEFA Champions League qualifying next season. Just as in his first season, Naldo played in all but two of Bremen's Bundesliga games in 2006–07 season, as well as in every European fixture, making a total of forty–nine appearances and scoring eight times in all competitions. For his performance, he was named 2006–07 season's kicker Team of the Season.
At the start of the 2007–08 season, Naldo continued to remain in the first team spotlight, where he formed a partnership with Per Mertesacker. Naldo played in both of the UEFA Champions League Play–Off Rounds against Dinamo Zagreb, as Werder Bremen won 5–3 on aggregate. During a 3–0 loss against Borussia Dortmund on 14 September 2007, he was involved in a legal action by the opposition team after he was kicked Jakub Błaszczykowski, but avoided consequences. On 27 October 2007, Naldo scored his first goal of the season in a 1–1 draw against Schalke 04. This was followed up by helping the club keep four clean sheets in the next four matches domestically, and scored against Karlsruher SC along the way. However, he was sent–off in the 70th minute for a professional foul on Stanislav Šesták, as Werder Bremen lost 2–1 against VfL Bochum on 3 February 2008. Following this, Naldo served a two match suspension. Amid to his suspension, he played in both legs of the UEFA Cup Round of 32 against Braga and scored in the first leg, as his contributions saw the club through to the next round following 4–0 win on aggregate. The following month, Naldo was involved in an incident at training after clashing with Boubacar Sanogo, but Werder Bremen's manager Schaaf played down the incident. Naldo scored his fourth goal of the season and set up a goal for the club's first goal of the game, in a 6–1 win against Hannover 96 on 10 May 2008. In the last game of the season against Bayer Leverkusen, he helped the club win 1–0, resulting in Werder Bremen finishing second place in the league, as well as, the club qualifying for the UEFA Champions League qualifying next season. In his third season at Werder Bremen, Naldo played in all but two of the club's Bundesliga games in the 2007–08 season, due to suspension, and in all their Champions League fixtures, along with two in Champions League qualifiers, making a total of forty–seven appearances and scoring four times in all competitions. For his performance, he was named 2007–08 season's kicker Team of the Season for the second time.
At the start of the 2008–09 season, Naldo continued to remain in the first team spotlight, where he formed a partnership with Mertesacker. In a match against Bayern Munich on 20 September 2008, he scored his first goal of the season with his right foot in a 5–2 win, making it the first time Bremen won at the Allianz Arena. Throughout the season, the club came under criticism over conceding goals constantly. Amid to the criticism, Naldo scored his second goal of the season, in a 3–1 win against FC Köln on 16 November 2008. However in a match against Bayern Munich on 1 March 2009, he was sent–off in the 15th minute for a professional foul on Bastian Schweinsteiger, as Werder Bremen drew 0–0. After the match, it was announced that Naldo would be serving a three match suspension. While serving a suspension, he scored the only goal in the first leg win over Saint-Étienne in the last sixteen of the UEFA Cup. In the return leg, Naldo started the whole game to help the club draw 2–2, resulting in Werder Bremen advancing to the next round. He returned to the starting line–up against Hannover 96 on 5 April 2009 and helped the club win 4–1. Three weeks later on 25 April 2009, Naldo scored his fourth goal of the season, in a 3–2 win against VfL Bochum. He played three times against Hamburg in the semi–finals of both the DFB–Pokal and UEFA Cup that saw Werder Bremen through to the finals. In the UEFA Cup Final against Shakhtar Donetsk, Naldo started the match and scored an equalising goal to level the game at 1–1, however, his team went on to lose the game 2–1 after extra time. After the match, he was seen crying uncontrollably over the defeat. Tens days after the loss, Naldo started in the DFB-Pokal Final against Bayer Leverkusen and helped the club win 1–0 to win the DFB-Pokal. After the match, newspaper Der Spiegel praised his performance and even calling him "one of the best central defenders in Europe. Fast, safe on the ball, strong on the ball, strong on the shot. Showed a bit of everything that evening, plus an almost momentous blunder in the first half." Despite suffering injuries throughout the 2008–09 season, he played in all but six of Bremen's Bundesliga games in 2008–09 season, in seven of their eight Champions League fixtures, and all of the UEFA Cup fixtures, making the total of forty–seven appearances and scoring five times in all competitions.