Rodrigo Nestor Bertalia

Five finals, five direct contributions. That is the line that follows Rodrigo Nestor around: in every final his teams have reached — the Paulista deciders of 2021 and 2022, both legs of the 2023 Copa do Brasil, the 2025 Copa do Nordeste — he has either scored or set up a goal.

He arrived at São Paulo in 2014 after two years in the Atlético Juventus academy, and moved up through the U-15, U-17 and U-20 sides. The youth years brought the Copa do Brasil Sub-20 and Supercopa do Brasil Sub-20 in 2018 and the Copa São Paulo de Juniores in 2019. He debuted for the senior team on 8 March 2020 in the Campeonato Paulista against Botafogo-SP, and by November 2025 had made 219 appearances for the club, with 12 goals and 26 assists. There was a defeat in the 2022 Copa Sudamericana final, against Independiente del Valle.

Brazil's under-17s took him to the 2017 South American Championship in Chile, which they won, and to the World Cup in India that year, where the run ended in the semi-final, 1:3 to England.

Bahia took him on loan in January 2025 for R$ 10 million with an obligation to buy. He won the Campeonato Baiano and the Copa do Nordeste in his first season there, scoring and assisting in the 4:1 first leg of the Nordeste final against Confiança and adding two assists in the 5:0 return. Bahia completed the purchase on 7 November 2025, on a contract to 2030.