Last week, all of Venezuela witnessed a historic milestone for the national team, it was that penalty that Salomón Rondón converted against Paraguay to give Vinotinto a new victory and reach 40 goals representing the country.
A figure that will be difficult to beat and that may take years for another forward like Salomón Rondón to come and become the national team's top scorer.
Debut and first goal
His career with the vinotinto shirt began on February 6, 2008 in a friendly against Haiti, ironically at the Monumental in Maturín.
Although his first goal, at only 18 years old, was against El Salvador on March 23 of that year in Cachamay. Venezuela won 1-0 with a goal from Rondón in the first half.
Egypt U-20 World Cup
With just turned 20 years old, and under the tutelage of coach César Farías, he participated in the first FIFA World Cup for Venezuela, a historic milestone.
Salomón arrived at the U-20 World Cup in Egypt in 2009 with three goals in the bag in the South American Championship. Once on Egyptian soil he was key in the group stage.
Against Tahiti, Salo scored a hat trick to beat Venezuela 8-0 and advance to the round of 1. Once in the round of 2, he scored again, but the team lost XNUMX-XNUMX to the United Arab Emirates.
Rafa Romo and Rondón are the only members of that under-20 team who today play for the senior Vinotinto team.
Read also: Vinotinto will play in Group F of the U-17 World Cup
America Cups
In Argentina 2011, Salomón Rondón had the absolute trust of César Farías who debuted in his first Copa América against Brazil.
Although his first and only goal of that tournament was against Paraguay. He scored the first goal in a match that Venezuela came back to tie 3-3.
Then came Chile 2015, when Venezuela defeated Colombia 1-0 for the last time and with a goal from the “Gladiator”.
The same thing happened against Uruguay in the Centenario Cup in 2016. The last chance they won against the Charrúas was with a goal from three quarters of the field by Salo. In total he has 4 goals in the Copa América.
Goals in qualifying rounds
Rondón is in what could be his fourth and last World Cup cycle in a row with Vinotinto and with a total of 11 goals.
He is one point away from equaling Juan Arango in the qualifying rounds, with the difference that the “Gladiator” has given Venezuela victory five times in said instances.
In fact, two of them were against Paraguay, one of their biggest South American victims in their scoring history, in addition to Bolivia.
In friendly matches, he has a total of 25 goals, with Panama being the highest scorer.
Salo Rondón Statistics
Goals scored by Rondón with Vinotinto:
| RIVALS | GOLES |
| Bolivia | 5 |
| Paraguay | 4 |
| Panama | 4 |
| Costa Rica | 3 |
| Japan | 3 |
| Uruguay | 2 |
| Colombia | 2 |
| Guatemala | 2 |
| Moldova | 2 |
| Argentina | 2 |
| Chile | 2 |
| USA | 2 |
| El Salvador | 1 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 1 |
| Peru | 1 |
| Malta | 1 |
| United Arab Emirates | 1 |
| Syria | 1 |
| Saudi Arabia | 1 |
Vinotinto's top scorers:
| Players | goals |
| Salomon Rondon | 40 |
| Giancarlo maldonado | 22 |
| John Arango | 22 |
| Ruberth Morán | 14 |
| Josef Martínez | 14 |
