Jorge Alberto Rojas Méndez (born January 10, 1977 in Mérida) is a Venezuelan former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

Career

Club

After playing for several small clubs in Venezuela, Rojas began to establish himself as one of the nations top players while at

Caracas FC Caracas Fútbol Club is a Venezuelan football team based in Caracas. The club has won twelve First Division titles making it the most successful in Venezuelan football history. They are nicknamed ''Los Rojos del Ávila'', or the "Reds from Áv ...

. Following his successful first stint at Caracas, which included two league titles, he joined Ecuadorean power Emelec in 2003. That season, he was selected as the top foreign player in the league. Rojas than briefly returned to Caracas before joining Colombian club

Atlético Nacional Atlético Nacional S. A., best known as Atlético Nacional, is a Colombian professional association football, football club based in Medellín. The club is one of only three clubs to have played in every first division tournament in the countr ...

. While at Nacional Rojas helped the club to the 2005 Apertura Championship, and was considered one of the top players in the league. Following his successful stint with Nacional, Rojas returned for his third stint with Caracas FC guiding the club to back to back league titles in 2006 and 2007. At the conclusion of the 2007 campaign he returned to Colombia to play for América de Cali, while at Cali he appeared in 22 matches, notching 4 goals (3 from the penalty spot). Following the Colombian league season, Rojas was sold to

Unión Atlético Maracaibo Club Unión Atlético Maracaibo (usually called Maracaibo) was a professional club founded in 2001 and the club had one First Division title in the professional era. The club was based in Maracaibo. Titles National *Primera División Venezolan ...

. He scored his first goal with Maracaibo in a 1-2 defeat to his former club Caracas FC. While at Maracaibo, Rojas participated in a famous 1-1 draw against

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

in the 2008

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

. He also led Maracaibo to the final of the

Copa de Venezuela The Copa Venezuela ( en, Venezuela Cup) is the national cup football competition of Venezuela. Organized by the Venezuelan Football Federation, it is contested in the second half of the season by the teams in the Primera División and Segunda Di ...

where his club would lose the series to

Aragua Fútbol Club Aragua Fútbol Club () is a Venezuelan football team based in the city of Maracay, in the state of Aragua. The club began its professional career playing in the Venezuelan Segunda División a year after the club was founded. Since 2005, Aragua ...

on away goals. Rojas signed with

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

in July 2008. He had two assists in his first game for the club against the

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began play ...

on July 19, 2008. He appeared in 11 regular season matches for New York, registering 5 assists. Following the

season it appeared that Rojas would go loan to

Mineros de Guayana Asociación Civil Club Deportivo Mineros de Guayana, known as Mineros de Guayana or simply Mineros, is a professional football club based in Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela. History The Colegio Loyola Gumilla's field, located in Puerto Ordaz, was us ...

during the MLS off-season, however the move never materialized. In his next season with New York Red Bulls he would score two goals. But this form he produced would only come once. At the end of the season he was cut loose and returned to Venezuela to play for

Deportivo Táchira ''Deportivo'' (Spanish, 'sporting') may refer to: * Deportivo de La Coruña, commonly known as simply Deportivo, a Spanish football club * Déportivo, a French rock band * Deportivo (Mexicable), an aerial lift station in Ecatepec, Mexico * Deport ...

. He then later also played for

Aragua Aragua State ( es, Estado Aragua, ) is one of the 23 States of Venezuela, states of Venezuela. It is located in the north-central region of Venezuela. It has plains and jungle (terrain), jungles and Caribbean beaches. The most popular are Cata a ...

and

Metropolitanos The Metropolitanos of Havana was a baseball team in the Cuban National Series. The Metros, also known as the ''Guerreros'' (Warriors), had historically been a poor team, though they were ostensibly the heir to the Habana (baseball club), Habana te ...

. On 27 December 2019, 42-year old Rojas announced his retirement from football.

International

Rojas started his career with the Venezuela National Team at the age of 14, when he joined the U-15 squad, coached by Ratomir Djukovic and then by Augusto Viso. Rojas went on to play at the Bolivarian Games and then to the South American Games in Colombia in 1993. Rojas continue through all the Natl Youth Teams until he finally was called up to the Senior Team. Rojas has earned 90 caps for the Venezuela national team, making him the second most capped player in the history of Venezuelan international football as of April 2009.rsssf: Venezuela record international players
He made his international debut on January 27, 1999 in a friendly against Denmark. The match ended 1-1 and was played at

Estadio José Pachencho Romero Estadio José Encarnación "Pachencho" Romero is a sports stadium in Maracaibo, capital of the Zulia state, in Venezuela. The stadium holds 40,800 spectators. The pitch was originally surrounded by both a running track and a scorched concrete cycl ...

in Maracaibo.

International goals

Honors

Club

* Universidad de Los Andes F.C. ** Segunda División Venezolana (1) 1994/1995 *

** Primera División Venezolana (4) 2000/2001, 2002/2003, 2005/2006, 2006/2007 *

(1) 2001 *

Copa Mustang Copa or COPA may refer to: COPA COPA may refer to: * Computer Operator Programming Assistant. trade of ITI * Child Online Protection Act, a former U.S. law to protect minors from certain material on the internet * Canadian Owners and Pilots Asso ...

(1) 2005-I *

Runner Up 2008 *

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conference ...

Runner Up 2008 *

** Primera División Venezolana (1) 2010/2011

Statistics

References

External links

* *
International statistics at rsssf
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rojas, Jorge 1977 births Living people Association football defenders Association football midfielders Venezuelan footballers Venezuela international footballers Estudiantes de Mérida players Caracas FC players C.S. Emelec footballers Atlético Nacional footballers América de Cali footballers UA Maracaibo players New York Red Bulls players Deportivo Táchira F.C. players A.C.C.D. Mineros de Guayana players Aragua FC players Metropolitanos FC players Boca Juniors footballers 1999 Copa América players 2001 Copa América players 2004 Copa América players 2007 Copa América players Association football utility players Venezuelan Primera División players Categoría Primera A players Ecuadorian Serie A players Major League Soccer players Expatriate footballers in Argentina Expatriate footballers in Colombia Expatriate footballers in Ecuador Expatriate soccer players in the United States Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Colombia Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Ecuador Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in the United States People from Mérida, Mérida