Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues

DOB 3/07/07

Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues signed his first pro contract in April 2024, three months before his 17^th birthday, putting pen to paper on a three-year deal, the first two years of which are on scholarship terms.

The young winger started training with the first team during 2023-24 pre-season after Phoenix head coach Giancarlo Italiano spotted him playing for the Phoenix thirds in the Capital Premier League.

Sloane-Rodrigues was born in Hong Kong to Kiwi and Brazilian parents but grew up in Auckland.

He played his junior football for East Coast Bays AFC and Auckland United FC before moving to Wellington with his mum Donna when he was 14 to join the Phoenix academy.

Sloane-Rodrigues is a New Zealand age-group international. He represented Aotearoa at the FIFA U-17 Men’s World Cup in Indonesia in 2023 and at the OFC U-19 Men’s Championship in 2024.

> 2023-24 season

Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues joined the first team for pre-season training and he featured for the Phoenix reserves in their final two matches of the 2023 Central League.

Sloane-Rodrigues played five matches for the reserves in the National League that followed in September and October.

In November he went to Indonesia for the FIFA U-17 Men’s World Cup and he came off the bench in all three of New Zealand’s group matches.

Upon his return to the Phoenix, Sloane-Rodrigues was named in matchday squads for A-League matches in January and February before finally making his professional bow at the end of stoppage time in the round 20 match against Melbourne City.

In the process he became the youngest player in Wellington Phoenix history at 16 years and 250 days.

Sloane-Rodrigues helped New Zealand qualify for the 2025 FIFA U-20 Men’s World Cup by being a key part of the side which dominated the OFC U-19 Men’s Championship in July.