“They have a new player in town, a new up and coming player that is always, every day going to give his best, and soon you’ll see him in the Mercedes-Benz.”
That is the confidence irradiated by one of the newest additions to the Five Stripe family: 19-year-old striker Rodrigo Neri.
Soccer has always been a part of Neri’s life. He recalled playing in the streets of Venezuela every day as a child.
“My parents and grandparents have always told me that ever since I was like one years old, I’ve always had like a small football next to my feet,” Neri said.
Neri has had to move around quite a bit throughout his life. He was born in Miami then moved to Venezuela with his family at the age of two. When he turned nine, he moved to Spain to continue his development. Finally, he’s back in his home country in a different city. It is not easy to thrive amidst such changing circumstances, but Neri rolled with the punches and demonstrated his ability to quickly adapt to whatever life throws at him.
“I’ve just always had that mentality to like, no matter where I am or how many times I’ve had to move, I’m just focused on adapting, soaking the culture, just adapting to a place as fast as possible and as good as possible,” Neri said.
His latest change of scenery has brought him to Atlanta, where Neri said he is settling in well. He has moved into an apartment and said he is slowly falling in love with the city. Although he has not had much time to explore all that Georgia has to offer, he was recommended Antico Pizza at The Battery and said he really enjoyed it.
Although he takes inspiration from many different world-class strikers such as Ronaldo Nazário and Erling Haaland, Neri says his number one idol has always been Cristiano Ronaldo. Ironically, he would end up joining the academy of one of his hero’s biggest Spanish rivals: Atlético Madrid.
Between July 1, 2021 and Feb 1, 2024, Neri played in various levels of Atlético Madrid’s youth academy system, where he worked with an incredible coaching staff and even got to train with the first team.
“I’d say where I learned the most is in Atlético,” Neri said, “Like just their style of play, their mentality, like technically wise.”
During his time with the Colchoneros, Neri played under the management of renowned Liverpool, Atlético Madrid and Spanish national team striker Fernando Torres. Neri learned a lot from Torres, but one of the most important lessons was to first time finish inside the box.
“He’d always say that you have to always put your body in a position to finish first touch, and if you have time, you can take a touch,” Neri said, “But never do the opposite, like never be ready to take a touch and not be ready to finish first touch.”
With his first professional goal in an MLS Next Pro match against Huntsville City FC, Neri showed just what he learned from his old coach.
But Torres was not the only Spanish striker to have an influence on Neri. Alvaro Morata, who recently transferred to Serie A side AC Milan, was a player that Neri looked up to. Neri said the 31-year-old former Real Madrid and Chelsea man was good to him and would often encourage him to learn as much as possible in everything he did from training sessions to matches.
Morata also gave him tips to improve his finishing.
“Once in training, he was like ‘Neri, when you’re attacking the area, always stick in between the first and second post. Never, never go to the side, so you always know if you shoot it straight, it’s going in,'” Neri said.
Neri said he congratulated Morata on winning the Euros with Spain earlier this summer.
With loads of talent and potential, Neri has caught the attention of many as one of the USMNT’s hottest prospects. Some, including Spanish outlet AS, have even mentioned him as one to watch ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
But first he needs to get some first team minutes. The promise of a better path to the first team was of the main factors that Neri said influenced his decision to leave Atlético Madrid and join Atlanta United 2. He said that he wants to work hard with the second team so that he can get into the first team and show enough quality there to return to Europe. As someone who grew up watching Ronaldo at Manchester United, Neri said he would like to play for the Red Devils or return to Atlético Madrid.
However, before he can dream of playing under the Old Trafford lights, Neri needs to prove himself here in Atlanta. He is off to a hot start with three goals and an assist in his first four games with the Two Spikes and has helped the team gain a three-match win streak.
Neri says he feels very happy with the team so far and praises the club for being good to him.
“I mean, in such a short period of time, they’ve made me feel so welcome and just like if I was home and that makes it easy,” Neri said, “And also the high quality players that we have on the team just makes it easy in order to adapt and just to be able to give my all.”
When asked about his goals, Neri said he just aims to score in every game and give his best each matchday so that he can make the jump to the first team.
But he didn’t stop there. Neri also said he wants to break some records with Atlanta United such as being the youngest player to score a certain amount of goals or the most expensive league transfer, which is currently held by former Five Stripe Thiago Almada for his $21 million transfer to Eagle Football Group.
Off the field, Neri is a self-proclaimed anime nerd. His favorite is One Piece.
When prompted to give a message to Atlanta Unite fans, Neri asked for them to continue supporting the club and promises to give his all whenever he puts on the jersey.
Neri will miss Atlanta United 2’s next match at Inter Miami II on Sunday due to a red card suspension, but he’ll be back in time for the next home match against Orlando City B on Friday Aug. 23.
Nice article. Seems like a high-potential kid. Best of luck to him.