Mario Junior Rondón Fernández (; born 26 March 1986) is a Venezuelan former professional footballer who played as a striker.
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.
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. Rarely used in his debut season, he finished it on loan to Segunda Liga'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, 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).
On 14 July 2011, Rondón joined C.D. Nacional on a five-year contract, for an undisclosed fee. 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.
On 28 February 2015, Rondón transferred to Chinese Super League newcomers Shijiazhuang Ever Bright FC. He scored the club's first-ever goal in the competition on 9 March, but in a 2–1 defeat at Guangzhou Evergrande FC.
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. 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.
Rondón rejoined Shijiazhuang on 29 June 2018, aged 32. In May 2019, he signed a contract with Romanian champions CFR Cluj. He scored his first league goal for the latter on 23 February 2020 in a 2–0 away victory over Universitatea Craiova, 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.
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.
Career statistics Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition Club Season League National cup League cup Continental Other Total Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps GoalsPontassolense2005–06Segunda Divisão17210———1822006–07Segunda Divisão25641———2972007–08Segunda Divisão29210———3022008–09Segunda Divisão301111———3112Total1012172———10823Paços Ferreira2009–10Primeira Liga40101030—902010–11Primeira Liga2791064——3413Total319207430—4313Beira-Mar (loan)2009–10Segunda Liga10110———111Nacional2011–12Primeira Liga2910611041—40122012–13Primeira Liga2841020——3142013–14Primeira Liga30120020——32122014–15Primeira Liga215433020—308Total108311148061—13336Shijiazhuang Ever Bright2015Chinese Super League30600———3062016Chinese Super League1000———10Total31600———316Gaz Metan Mediaș2017–18Liga I18931———2110Shijiazhuang Ever Bright2018China League One73————73Gaz Metan Mediaș2018–19Liga I1810————1810CFR Cluj2019–20Liga I24210—123003752020–21Liga I29510—10410419Total53720—227107814Radomiak2021–22Ekstraklasa23110———241Sepsi OSK2022–23Liga I40952—401150122023–24Liga I19120—6010281Total591072—100217813Académica2024–25Liga 312200———122Career total47111033915441831563132
International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsVenezuela201110201220201310201442201551Total133
Scores and results list Venezuela's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Rondón goal. + International goals by date, venue, opponent, score, result and competitionNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 5 September 2014 Bucheon Stadium, Bucheon, South Korea 1–0 1–3 Friendly2 9 September 2014 International Stadium, Yokohama, Japan 1–1 2–2 Friendly3 12 November 2015 Estadio Hernando Siles, La Paz, Bolivia 1–2 2–4 2018 World Cup qualification
Honours Beira-Mar Segunda Liga: 2009–10
Paços de Ferreira Taça da Liga runner-up: 2010–11 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira runner-up: 2009
CFR Cluj Liga I: 2019–20, 2020–21 Supercupa României: 2020
Sepsi OSK Cupa României: 2022–23 Supercupa României: 2022, 2023
References
External links