Mario Rondón

Mario Junior Rondón Fernández (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈmaɾjo ronˈdon]; born 26 March 1986) is a Venezuelan footballer who plays for Romanian club CFR Cluj as a striker.

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Rondón and the second or maternal family name is Fernández.
Mario Rondón
Personal information
Full name Mario Junior Rondón Fernández
Date of birth (1986-03-26) 26 March 1986
Place of birth Caracas, Venezuela
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position(s) Striker
Club information
Current team
 CFR Cluj
Number 99
Youth career
2000–2004 Caracas
2004–2005 Pontassolense
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2009 Pontassolense 100 (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– CFR Cluj 18 (1)
National team‡
2011– Venezuela 13 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:05, 22 June 2020 (UTC).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17 November 2015

Club career

Born in Caracas, 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 side.

After scoring 11 goals in his last year, Rondón moved straight into the Primeira Liga after signing with F.C. Paços de Ferreira in the summer of 2009. Rarely used in his debut season, he finished it on loan to second level's S.C. Beira-Mar, 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,[1] eventually finishing as the side's top scorer with nine league goals and adding four in their runner-up run in the Portuguese League Cup (1–2 final loss to S.L. Benfica).[2]

On 14 July 2011, Rondón joined C.D. Nacional on a five-year contract, for an undisclosed fee.[3] He scored a career-best 12 goals in 30 games in his third year, helping the Madeirans to the playoff round of the UEFA Europa League.[4][5]

On 28 February 2015, Rondón transferred to Chinese Super League newcomer Shijiazhuang Ever Bright FC.[6] He scored the club's first-ever goal in the competition on 9 March, but in a 1–2 loss at Guangzhou Evergrande FC.[7]

In January 2018, after more than one year of inactivity, Rondón moved to Romanian Liga I's CS Gaz Metan Mediaș for the remainder of the season.[8] He made 21 appearances and netted ten times in all competitions, with fellow league team CS Universitatea Craiova reportedly showing interest in signing the forward.[9]

Aged 32, Rondón transferred back to Shijiazhuang on 29 June 2018.[10] In May 2019, he signed a contract with Romanian champions CFR Cluj.[11] He scored his first in Liga I for the latter on 23 February 2020 in a 2–0 away victory over Universitatea Craiova,[12] 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 progress to the knockout stages.[13]

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 1–3 loss in South Korea on 5 September 2014.[14]

Career statistics

International goals
As of 12 November 2015 (Venezuela score listed first, score column indicates score after each Rondón goal)[15]
International goals by date, venue, opponent, score, result and competition
GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1 5 September 2014Bucheon Stadium, Bucheon, South Korea South Korea1–01–3Friendly
2 9 September 2014International Stadium, Yokohama, Japan Japan1–12–2Friendly
3 12 November 2015Hernando Siles, La Paz, Bolivia Bolivia1–22–42018 World Cup qualification

References
  1. "Late Hulk strike gives Porto victory". PortuGOAL. 15 August 2010. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  2. "Bwin Cup final: Benfica make it three in a row!". PortuGOAL. 23 April 2011. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  3. Santos, José (14 July 2011). "Rondón certo por 5 épocas" [Rondón confirmed for 5 seasons]. Record (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
  4. Ruela, João (24 April 2014). "Mario Rondón pensa em Espanha ou Inglaterra" [Mario Rondón thinks of Spain or England]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  5. Ruela, João (21 August 2014). "Derrota por 2–0 na Bielorrússia complica qualificação do Nacional" [2–0 defeat in Belarus makes qualification harder for Nacional]. Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  6. 委内瑞拉国脚加盟永昌获官宣 鲁能旧将联袂加盟 (in Chinese). NetEase. 28 February 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  7. 前葡超锋霸轰无解世界波 河北足球终获中超历史首球 (in Chinese). Ifeng. 10 March 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  8. "Octavian Moraru nu a pierdut timpul! Noul manager sportiv al Mediaşului a adus primii jucători la echipă" [Octavian Moraru did not waste time! New sporting director at Mediaş brought first players to the team] (in Romanian). Telekom Sport. 8 January 2018. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  9. Popa, Eduard Nicolae (7 June 2018). "Craiova aduce golgeterul României în 2018: Mario Rondon este dorit în Bănie" [Craiova bring Romania's top scorer in 2018: Mario Rondón is wanted in Bănie] (in Romanian). Fanatik. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  10. 永昌官方宣布前外援隆东回归 [Shijiazhuang officially announce return of former foreign player Rondón] (in Chinese). Sohu. 29 June 2018. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  11. "CFR Cluj, primele două transferuri pentru Liga Campionilor: Mario Rondon și Luis Aurelio de la Gaz Metan!" [CFR Cluj, first two transfers for Champions League: Mario Rondon and Luis Aurelio from Gaz Metan!]. Gazeta Sporturilor (in Romanian). 27 May 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  12. Ujica, Sebastian (23 February 2020). "Craiova – CFR Cluj 0–2. Rondon și autogolul lui Martic au rezolvat meciul" [Craiova – CFR Cluj 0–2. Rondon and Martic's own goal solved the match] (in Romanian). Eurosport. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  13. "CFR Cluj – Rennes 1–0. Final nebun în Gruia. Ardelenii mai au nevoie de un punct pentru a ajunge în primăvara europeană" [CFR Cluj – Rennes 1–0. Crazy ending in Gruia. Transylvanians still need a point to reach the European spring] (in Romanian). Digi Sport. 7 November 2019. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  14. "La Vinotinto perdió 3 goles por 1 ante Corea del Sur" [La Vinotinto lost against South Korea by 3 goals to 1] (in Spanish). Puro Vinotinto. 8 September 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  15. "M. Rondón – Matches". Soccerway. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
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