Mario Rondón
Venezuelan footballer (born 1986)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mario Junior Rondón Fernández (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈmaɾjo ronˈdon]; born 26 March 1986) is a Venezuelan former professional footballer who played as a striker.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mario Junior Rondón Fernández[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 26 March 1986[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Los Teques, Venezuela[1] | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1997–2004 | Menor Los Castores | ||
| 2004–2005 | Pontassolense | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2005–2009 | Pontassolense | 101 | (21) |
| 2009–2011 | Paços Ferreira | 31 | (9) |
| 2010 | → Beira-Mar (loan) | 10 | (1) |
| 2011–2015 | Nacional | 108 | (31) |
| 2015–2016 | Shijiazhuang Ever Bright | 31 | (6) |
| 2018 | Gaz Metan Mediaș | 18 | (9) |
| 2018 | Shijiazhuang Ever Bright | 7 | (3) |
| 2019 | Gaz Metan Mediaș | 18 | (10) |
| 2019–2021 | CFR Cluj | 53 | (7) |
| 2021–2022 | Radomiak | 23 | (1) |
| 2022–2024 | Sepsi OSK | 59 | (10) |
| 2024–2025 | Académica | 12 | (2) |
| Total | 471 | (110) | |
| International career | |||
| 2011–2015 | Venezuela | 13 | (3) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Club career
Born in Los Teques, Miranda, Rondón arrived in Portugal at age 18, finishing his junior career with A.D. Pontassolense. He then proceeded to play a further four seasons with the third division club.[2]
After scoring 11 goals in his last year, Rondón moved straight into the Primeira Liga after signing with F.C. Paços de Ferreira in May 2009.[3] Rarely used in his debut season, he finished it on loan to Segunda Liga's S.C. Beira-Mar,[4] featuring relatively as the Aveiro team returned to the top flight after a three-year absence.
Rondón returned to Paços for 2010–11. In the first game of the campaign, against Sporting CP on 14 August, he scored the only goal for a home win,[5] eventually finishing as the side's top scorer with nine league goals and adding four in their runner-up run in the Taça da Liga (2–1 final loss to S.L. Benfica).[6]
On 14 July 2011, Rondón joined C.D. Nacional on a five-year contract, for an undisclosed fee.[7] He scored a career-best 12 goals in 30 games in his third year,[8] helping the Madeirans to the playoff round of the UEFA Europa League.[9][10]
On 28 February 2015, Rondón transferred to Chinese Super League newcomers Shijiazhuang Ever Bright FC.[11] He scored the club's first-ever goal in the competition on 9 March, but in a 2–1 defeat at Guangzhou Evergrande FC.[12]
In January 2018, after more than one year of inactivity, Rondón moved to Romania's CS Gaz Metan Mediaș for the remainder of the season.[13] He made 21 appearances and netted ten times in all competitions, with fellow Liga I team CS Universitatea Craiova reportedly showing interest in signing the forward.[14]
Rondón rejoined Shijiazhuang on 29 June 2018, aged 32.[15] In May 2019, he signed a contract with Romanian champions CFR Cluj.[16] He scored his first league goal for the latter on 23 February 2020 in a 2–0 away victory over Universitatea Craiova,[17] adding another in the Europa League group stage against Stade Rennais F.C. (1–0 at home, where he was sent off after only three minutes on the pitch) to help his team to progress to the knockout stages.[18]
International career
Rondón earned his first cap for Venezuela on 25 March 2011, coming on as a 78th-minute substitute for Alejandro Moreno in a 2–0 friendly away win over Jamaica. He scored his first goal in another exhibition match, a 3–1 loss in South Korea on 5 September 2014.[19]
Career statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Pontassolense | 2005–06 | Segunda Divisão | 17 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 18 | 2 | |||
| 2006–07 | Segunda Divisão | 25 | 6 | 4 | 1 | — | — | — | 29 | 7 | ||||
| 2007–08 | Segunda Divisão | 29 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 30 | 2 | ||||
| 2008–09 | Segunda Divisão | 30 | 11 | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | 31 | 12 | ||||
| Total | 101 | 21 | 7 | 2 | — | — | — | 108 | 23 | |||||
| Paços Ferreira | 2009–10 | Primeira Liga | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3[c] | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | |
| 2010–11 | Primeira Liga | 27 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 4 | — | — | 34 | 13 | |||
| Total | 31 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | — | 43 | 13 | |||
| Beira-Mar (loan) | 2009–10 | Segunda Liga | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 11 | 1 | |||
| Nacional | 2011–12 | Primeira Liga | 29 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4[c] | 1 | — | 40 | 12 | |
| 2012–13 | Primeira Liga | 28 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 31 | 4 | |||
| 2013–14 | Primeira Liga | 30 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 32 | 12 | |||
| 2014–15 | Primeira Liga | 21 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2[c] | 0 | — | 30 | 8 | ||
| Total | 108 | 31 | 11 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 1 | — | 133 | 36 | |||
| Shijiazhuang Ever Bright | 2015 | Chinese Super League | 30 | 6 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 30 | 6 | |||
| 2016 | Chinese Super League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 31 | 6 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 31 | 6 | |||||
| Gaz Metan Mediaș | 2017–18 | Liga I | 18 | 9 | 3 | 1 | — | — | — | 21 | 10 | |||
| Shijiazhuang Ever Bright | 2018 | China League One | 7 | 3 | — | — | — | — | 7 | 3 | ||||
| Gaz Metan Mediaș | 2018–19 | Liga I | 18 | 10 | — | — | — | — | 18 | 10 | ||||
| CFR Cluj | 2019–20 | Liga I | 24 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 12[d] | 3 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 5 | |
| 2020–21 | Liga I | 29 | 5 | 1 | 0 | — | 10[e] | 4 | 1[f] | 0 | 41 | 9 | ||
| Total | 53 | 7 | 2 | 0 | — | 22 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 78 | 14 | |||
| Radomiak | 2021–22 | Ekstraklasa | 23 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 24 | 1 | |||
| Sepsi OSK | 2022–23 | Liga I | 40 | 9 | 5 | 2 | — | 4[g] | 0 | 1[f] | 1 | 50 | 12 | |
| 2023–24 | Liga I | 19 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 6[g] | 0 | 1[f] | 0 | 28 | 1 | ||
| Total | 59 | 10 | 7 | 2 | — | 10 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 78 | 13 | |||
| Académica | 2024–25 | Liga 3 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 12 | 2 | |||
| Career total | 471 | 110 | 33 | 9 | 15 | 4 | 41 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 563 | 132 | ||
- Includes Taça de Portugal, Cupa României, Polish Cup
- Includes Taça da Liga
- Appearances in UEFA Europa League
- Eight appearances and two goals in UEFA Champions League, four appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
- Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, eight appearances and four goals in UEFA Europa League
- Appearance in Supercupa României
- Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
International
- Scores and results list Venezuela's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Rondón goal.[21]
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 September 2014 | Bucheon Stadium, Bucheon, South Korea |  South Korea | 1–0 | 1–3 | Friendly |
| 2 | 9 September 2014 | International Stadium, Yokohama, Japan |  Japan | 1–1 | 2–2 | Friendly |
| 3 | 12 November 2015 | Estadio Hernando Siles, La Paz, Bolivia |  Bolivia | 1–2 | 2–4 | 2018 World Cup qualification |
Honours
Beira-Mar
Paços de Ferreira
- Taça da Liga runner-up: 2010–11[21]
- Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira runner-up: 2009[21]
CFR Cluj
Sepsi OSK
