Ronald Alejandro Vargas Aranguren (; born 2 December 1986) is a Venezuelan former professional

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 le ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Club career

Caracas

Vargas started his career in the youth teams of

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

. He was promoted to the first team in 2006. His debut in the

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 ...

came on 14 March 2006 against

Cienciano Club Sportivo Cienciano is a professional football club based in Cusco, Peru that currently plays in the Peruvian Primera División. The club was founded in 1901 by a group of students of the ''Colegio Nacional Ciencias del Cusco'' (National S ...

. Ronald scored his first goal in the final of the 2006–07 Primera División against Unión Atlético Maracaibo, in a 0–1 victory. The 2007–08 season established him as a regular player in the starting line-up of Caracas. His first goal of the season came on 21 October 2007 in a league match against

El Vigía The Alberto Adriani Municipality () (better known as El Vigia) is one of the 23 Municipalities of Venezuela, municipalities () that makes up the Venezuelan state of Mérida (state), Mérida and, according to a 2007 population estimate by the Natio ...

. He ended the campaign with 29 games and 8 goals. In that season he also made his debut in

Copa 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 Venezuelan Primera División, Prim ...

and scored his first goal in Copa Libertadores.

Club Brugge

On 14 May 2008, Vargas signed with the Belgian team

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062.

on a four-year deal. Caracas received €1.5 million, making this the most expensive transfer from a Venezuelan team in history. He made his debut on 29 August in a league match against

AFC Tubize Royale Union Tubize-Braine, also known as Tubize-Braine or RUTB, is a Belgian football club based in the cities of Tubize and Braine-le-Comte. The club was founded in 1990 as the result of a merger of two clubs, F.C. Tubize and Amis Réunis de ...

, in a 4–1 victory. His debut in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

came on 18 September, in a 2–2 draw against

BSC Young Boys BSC Young Boys (YB by short abbreviation ) are a Swiss sports club based in Bern, Switzerland. Its first team has won 15 Swiss league championships and six Swiss Cups. YB is one of the most successful Swiss football clubs internationally, reac ...

, and he scored his first goal in the competition on 27 November in another draw, this time 1–1, against

AS Saint-Étienne Association Sportive de Saint-Étienne Loire (), commonly known as A.S.S.E. () or simply Saint-Étienne, is a professional football club based in Saint-Étienne in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. The club was founded in 1933 and competes in ...

. In the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season Ronald started with top performances, scoring, among other goals, four braces against

Westerlo Westerlo () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises seven towns: * Westerlo centrum * * Tongerlo * Heultje * Voortkapel * Oosterwijk * In 2021, Westerlo had a total population of 25,288. The ...

Charleroi Charleroi ( , , ; wa, Tchålerwè ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By 1 January 2008, the total population of Charleroi was 201,593.

Zulte-Waregem Sportvereniging Zulte Waregem (), commonly known as Zulte Waregem or by their nickname Essevee (), is a Belgian professional football club based in Waregem, West Flanders. Zulte Waregem plays in the Belgian First Division A. Their highest finish ...

and

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...

. Vargas continued his good form in the start of the second part of the tournament, but on 6 February 2011 he suffered an

anterior cruciate ligament injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during inju ...

in a league match against

KRC Genk Koninklijke Racing Club Genk (), commonly known as KRC Genk, Racing Genk or simply Genk, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Genk in Belgian Limburg. Racing Genk plays in the Belgian Pro League and have won four champ ...

, only eight minutes after the start of the match. He was expected to be out for over six months, missing the chance of playing with his national team in the

2011 Copa América The 2011 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, better known as the 2011 Copa América or the Copa América 2011 Argentina, was the 43rd edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South Americ ...

Anderlecht

Contractual differences between Vargas and Club Brugge emerged in summer 2011, finishing with his transfer to

R.S.C. Anderlecht ; french: Les Mauves et Blancs) , short name = R.S.C.A. , founded = , ground = Constant Vanden Stock Stadium , capacity = 22,500 , owntitle = Chairman , owner = Wouter Vandenhaute , manager = Brian Riemer , ...

on 29 June 2011. The transfer fee was reported to be €2.5 million. Because of the rivalry between the two clubs mutual transfers aren't very common. It was the first transfer from Club Brugge to Anderlecht since Aleksandar Ilić in 2000. Vargas made his debut with the team in a

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...

match against

Lommel United Lommel SK is a Belgian association football club based in the city of Lommel, Limburg, that competes in the Challenger Pro League. History The roots of the club date back to the 1920s when the club Vlug & Vrij Overpelt-Usines (Fast & Free ...

, on 21 September. This meant his return seven months after his injury, and he scored once in the 4–0 victory. However, on 26 October he fell injured again on the same knee, in a cup match which Anderlecht lost against Rupel Boom. Kanu fed the ball to Vargas down the left wing, and the Venezuelan looked smooth and he moved infield past his marker. He then tried, and failed, to whip a right-footed cross into the area, but that mattered little as he went down gripping his left knee in obvious, spine-tingling pain. The diagnosis was four months out by the medical staff. The American team

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 ...

and

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

were interested in Ronald Vargas, if Anderlecht managed to get

Thorgan Hazard Thorgan Ganael Francis Hazard (born 29 March 1993) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder and winger for Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund and the Belgium national team. He is the younger brother of Eden and ...

. At the end of this season Vargas finished his contract with Anderlecht. However, the club was willing to keep him one more year. Anderlecht hoped that, with Vargas playing on loan, they would have been able to sell him for more money afterwards.

Balıkesirspor

On 28 July 2014, Vargas signed a one-year contract with the

Super Lig Super may refer to: Computing * SUPER (computer program), or Simplified Universal Player Encoder & Renderer, a video converter / player * Super (computer science), a keyword in object-oriented programming languages * Super key (keyboard butt ...

side club

Balıkesirspor Balıkesirspor is a Turkish club based in Balıkesir. Established in 1966, the football team played in the Süper Lig after achieving promotion having finished as runners-up of the TFF First League in 2013–14. The team's previous promotion was ...

. On 20 September 2014, he made his debut with the club in a 2–0 home win against

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

and he scored his first goal two months later in a 3–1 home loss against

Sivasspor Sivasspor Kulübü, known as Demir Grup Sivasspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish sports club based in Sivas. The primary department of the club is men's football. Formed in 1967, its football department competes in Süper Lig, as of 201 ...

. At the end of the season did not renew his contract with the club.

AEK Athens

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greece, Greek multi-sport club based in Nea ...

officially announced that Vargas had signed a contract with his new team. The 28-year-old forward came to Athens and a few hours later he signed his two-year contract with his new team. On 22 August 2015, he made his debut with the club in a 3–0 home win against

Platanias Platanias (Greek: Πλατανιάς) is a village and municipality on the Greek island of Crete. It is located about west from the city of Chania and east of Kissamos, on Chania Bay. The seat of the municipality is the village Gerani. Platania ...

scoring the second goal. On 13 November 2015, AEK's midfielder suspended for three games after his red card in a

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

game. The Venezuelan was sent off in the last moments of first half against

Asteras Tripolis Asteras Tripolis Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Αστέρας Τρίπολης), commonly referred to as Asteras Tripolis (meaning "Star of Tripoli"), is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Tripoli in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greec ...

for hitting an opponent. On 6 January 2016, AEK won against

Levadiakos Levadiakos Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Λεβαδειακός) is a Greek professional football club that plays in the Super League Greece. Based in Livadeia, Greece, the club was promoted to the Alpha Ethniki, forerunner of the Super League, afte ...

in their first leg

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most im ...

tie and are close to qualifying for the last eight of the tournament. Vargas scored a wonderful goal sealing his club victory. On 24 January 2016, thanks to a strike by Venezuelan midfielder, AEK won 1–0 against PAOK and remain at the second

position, behind the previous year's champions

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

. Vargas was impressive in January 2016, scoring four times, and was honored by magazine ''Diario Goleador'' as the best Venezuelan footballer of the month. AEK Athens manager

Gustavo Poyet Gustavo Augusto Poyet Domínguez (; born 15 November 1967) is a Uruguayan professional football manager and former footballer. He is currently the head coach of the Greece national football team. Poyet played as a midfielder and began his caree ...

used the 29-year-old international mostly as right winger, which helped him scoring more and also creating goals for his teammates. On 13 February 2016, Vargas scoring after

Diego Buonanotte Diego Mario Buonanotte Rende (; born 19 April 1988) is an Argentine naturalized Chilean Association football, footballer who plays for Peruvian club Sporting Cristal as an Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfielder and Midfielder#Wing ...

's missed penalty kick, helping his club to escape with a 1–0 win against the undefeated champions Olympiacos. It was the key player coming as a substitute in the derby whereas referee sent off visitors' Alberto Botia,

Luka Milivojević Luka Milivojević ( sr-Cyrl, Лука Миливојевић, ; born 7 April 1991) is a Serbian professional footballer who last played as a midfielder for club Crystal Palace, where he was the captain. He was a member of the Serbia national te ...

(for the penalty incident) and home team's Rodrigo Galo Brito, while Felipe Pardo suffered a strain injury during first half. It was named Man of the match. On 28 February 2016, thanks to a free kick from Vargas, who was also the only scorer against PAOK and Olympiacos, AEK beat rivals

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

1–0.

's final against Olympiakos was most likely the last appearance of Vargas in

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

, as the 29-year-old international has suffered a left adductor strain injury. In December 2016, the agent of Venezuelan attacking midfielder was in talks with the administration of AEK over his client's contract extension. The current contract of 30-year-old international expires at the end of 2016–17 season, and his agent wanted to ask technical director of the club Daniel Majstorovic if they are interested in extending it before January 2017 or not. On 22 April 2017, he received an offer for a two-year contract extension, with an annual fee of €300,000. Despite his team's desire to maintain his services, Vargas will leave the club as he isn't pleased with either the offer or his team role. After the announcement of his upcoming departure he was heavily linked with Panathinaikos.

Newcastle Jets

In September 2017, Vargas signed for Australian

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

club,

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australia ...

on a one-year deal as their marquee player for the 2017–18 season. In a Round 3 clash with the

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record of 36 league matches without defeat. Brisba ...

, Vargas suffered a compound fracture of the leg, ruling him out for a large part of the season, a short time in to his A-League career. Four months later, he returned. He appeared in Newcastle's

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

loss to

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory e ...

. Vargas scored his first goal for Newcastle in their 1–1 draw with

Adelaide United FC Adelaide United Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was founded in 2003 to f ...

in Round 2 of the 2018–19 season.

International career

Vargas has played 23 times for the Venezuela national team, scoring 3 goals. His debut came in the 1–0 match against Haití, in February 2008. He scored his first goal in the historic win against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

at the Gillete Stadium, in June 2008; his partner

Giancarlo Maldonado Giancarlo Gregorio Maldonado Marrero (, born 29 June 1982) is a Venezuelan footballer who plays as a striker. Club career River Plate Maldonado began his footballing career in Uruguay, where he started out in the youth teams of Montevideo c ...

scored too, and Venezuela won 2–0. On 9 September 2009, Ronald Vargas scored the last goal in Venezuela's 3–1 victory over

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

. Vargas was among the 23-final squad for Copa America. Venezuela beat

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

1–0 at the

2015 Copa América The 2015 Copa América was the 44th edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America, and took place in Chile between 11 June and 4 July 2015. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, ...

, the biggest upset of the tournament so far and their first victory over their South American neighbours in the history of the competition. Vargas had an excellent performance, almost gave the Venezuelans the lead in the 27th minute, forcing

David Ospina David Ospina Ramírez (born 31 August 1988) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Saudi Professional League club Al Nassr and the Colombia national team. Ospina began his career at Atlético Nacional, making his ...

to make a fine reflex save.

Career statistics

Club

UEFA.com – Ronald Vargas
uefa.com,

International goals

, - , 1. , , 6 June 2008 , ,

Gillette Stadium Gillette Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts, which is southwest of downtown Boston. It serves as the home stadium and administrative offices for both the New England Patriots of the National Footb ...

, Foxborough, United States , , , , 0–2 , , 0–2 , , Friendly , - , 2. , , 14 June 2008 , ,

Estadio Centenario Estadio Centenario is a stadium in the Parque Batlle of Montevideo, Uruguay, used primarily for football. The stadium was built between 1929 and 1930 to host the inaugural 1930 FIFA World Cup, as well as to commemorate the centenary of Uruguay ...

, Montevideo, Uruguay , , , , 1–1 , , 1–1 , ,

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (O ...

, - , 3. , , 9 September 2009 , ,

Estadio José Antonio Anzoátegui The Estadio Olímpico General José Antonio Anzoátegui before called Estadio Luis Ramos, is a stadium located in the Venezuelan city of Puerto la Cruz, in the state of Anzoátegui. It was opened on December 8, 1965 by the former president of V ...

, Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela , , , , 3–1 , , 3–1 , ,

Honours

Club

Caracas FC *

Venezuelan Primera División The Primera División (; en, First Division), or Liga Venezolana (; en, Venezuelan League) is the top-flight professional football league of Venezuela. It was created in 1921 and turned professional in 1957. It is organized by the Federación V ...

: 2006–07 Anderlecht *

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

: 2011–12,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 2013–14 *

Belgian Supercup The Belgian Super Cup ( nl, Belgische Supercup, ; french: Supercoupe de Belgique; german: Belgischer Fußball-Super Cup), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian First Division A champion ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

AEK *

Greek Football Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most im ...

: 2015–16

Notes

References

External links

*
R.S.C. Anderlecht profile

Official website
(In Spanish) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vargas, Ronald 1986 births Living people People from Guatire Sportspeople from Miranda (state) Venezuelan men's footballers Venezuela men's international footballers 2015 Copa América players Caracas FC players Club Brugge KV players R.S.C. Anderlecht players Balıkesirspor footballers AEK Athens F.C. players Newcastle Jets FC players K.V. Oostende players Belgian Pro League players Super League Greece players Venezuelan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Men's association football forwards Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Greece Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Marquee players (A-League Men)