Faustino Marcos Alberto Rojo (born 20 March 1990) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a defender for Boca Juniors and the Argentina national team.
Rojo began his career at local club Estudiantes de La Plata, where he won the Copa Libertadores in 2009, played in the FIFA Club World Cup Final later that year and won the Primera Division in 2010. After a short spell with Spartak Moscow he joined Sporting CP in 2012, and transferred to Manchester United for £16 million two years later. He won four trophies with the English club: the FA Cup in 2015-16 and the FA Community Shield, EFL Cup and UEFA Europa League in 2016-17. After falling out of favour at Manchester United, Rojo returned to Estudiantes on loan in January 2020, before making a permanent transfer to Boca Juniors in February 2021.
Rojo made his first appearance for Argentina in 2011 and has since earned over 60 caps. He was part of their side which reached the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final. He was also a Copa América runner-up in 2015 and 2016 and took part in the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Club career
Estudiantes
Rojo grew up in La Plata, Argentina and joined his local side Estudiantes de La Plata at the age of ten.[4]
In 2009, he was promoted to the club's main team, after signing his first professional contract. He spent three years with the club, making 43 appearances and scoring three goals for the team.[5] He played in the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup Final, coming on for extra time as Estudiantes lost 2–1 to FC Barcelona in Dubai.[6]
During his time at Estudiantes, Rojo won a Copa Libertadores and an Argentine Primera División title. The defender spent most matches as a left-back and developed a reputation as a capable attacker, scoring his first goal in a 2–1 defeat against LDU Quito in the 2010 Recopa Sudamericana.[7]
Spartak Moscow
In December 2010, Rojo signed a five-year contract with Spartak Moscow.[8] He scored his only goal for Spartak on 20 April 2011, netting the opening goal of a 2–1 defeat of Krasnodar in the quarter-finals of the Russian Cup.[9]
Sporting CP
In July 2012, Rojo moved from Spartak Moscow to Sporting CP for £3.5 million, signing a four-year contract.[10] Rojo made his Primeira Liga debut for Sporting on 19 August 2012, playing the entire match and receiving a yellow card in a 0–0 draw with Vitória de Guimarães.[11] He received his first red card for Sporting in a league match against Porto on 7 October 2012, picking up two cautions within three minutes as Sporting fell to a 2–0 defeat.[12] He scored his first goal for Sporting on 28 April 2013, netting the winner against Nacional.[13] Rojo played mostly at centre-back in his first season in Portugal, occasionally at left-back, as the team had a comparatively bad season,[14] finishing seventh in the league.
In the second league match of the 2013–14 season, Rojo scored his first goal of the season, netting Sporting's second goal in their 4–0 win over Académica de Coimbra.[15] On 19 April 2014, Rojo was sent off in a Primeira Liga match against Belenenses, but Sporting held on for a 1–0 win.[16] In an improved season, he contributed six goals as Sporting finished as runners-up.[14]
On 13 August 2014, it was announced that Rojo was being disciplined by his club over his refusal to train after handing in a transfer request to force through a move to Premier League club Manchester United.[17] Sporting president Bruno de Carvalho later alleged that third-party owners of Rojo who were not representatives of Manchester United had pressured his club into selling the player.[18]
Manchester United
.JPG)
On 19 August 2014, an agreement to sell Rojo for €20 million (£16 million) was announced by both Sporting and Manchester United.[19][20][21] The next day, United announced that they had signed him on a five-year contract, with Nani moving to Sporting on a season-long loan. Rojo stated that it was a "dream for me" to play with Manchester United.[22]
Rojo missed three matches for United due to difficulties in gaining a work permit, because of pending criminal charges in Argentina, where he is alleged to have had an altercation with a neighbour in 2010.[23] On 4 September, he was granted a work permit by the UK Border Agency to work in England.[24] Ten days later he made his debut at Old Trafford as United won for the first time in the season, playing the entirety of the 4–0 victory over Queens Park Rangers.[25] Rojo was stretchered off in United's 1–0 defeat in the Manchester derby on 2 November, sustaining shoulder damage from a tackle on Manchester City's Martín Demichelis.[26] It was later confirmed that he had dislocated his shoulder, adding to United's defensive injuries alongside Jonny Evans and Phil Jones.[27] On 3 February 2015, Rojo scored his first goal for United, heading a ball played by Robin van Persie for the second goal of a 3–0 win over Cambridge United in an FA Cup fourth round replay.[28]
During Manchester United's 2015 pre-season tour of North America, Rojo was expected to join up with the rest of the squad following an extended break granted after competing for Argentina in the Copa América. However, passport issues reportedly caused Rojo to miss pre-season tour entirely, and the matter was said to have "angered" manager Louis van Gaal. Rojo was resultantly fined £140,000 for failing to join up with the rest of the squad on time.[29] In the 2016 FA Cup Final, which United won 2–1 after extra time against Crystal Palace, Rojo was booked in the first half for fouling Pape Souaré and was substituted for Matteo Darmian after 66 minutes.[30]
On 4 March 2017, Rojo scored his first Premier League goal to open a 1–1 home draw against Bournemouth.[31] He suffered a season-ending cruciate ligament injury on 20 April, during a 2–1 win over Anderlecht in the quarter-finals of the Europa League, a tournament that United ended up winning.[32] He made his return on 28 November 2017, in a 4–2 win at Watford.[33]
On 16 March 2018, Rojo signed a new contract with Manchester United that would keep him at the club until June 2021, with the option to extend for a further year.[34]
In April 2019, after a run of injuries, Rojo said that United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær had told him he was part of his plans when Solskjær was appointed on a temporary basis in December 2018.[35] However, he made only one Premier League start next season, playing nine games in all competitions before being loaned out.[citation needed]