Venezuelan newspapers react to Salomon Rondon performance as Everton ace subbed off v Argentina
Salomon Rondon endured a frustrating 83 minutes on Friday as the Everton star played in Venezuela’s 3-0 loss to Argentina in World Cup qualifying.
Nicolas Gonzalez, Angel Di Maria and Lionel Messi were all on target for the South American giants as they put Venezuela, the bottom-placed team in qualifying, to the sword.
It was a tough evening for 32-year-old Rondon as the Everton striker earned his 86th cap for Venezuela while also wearing the captain’s armband before he was substituted off later on in the game.
Frontera Digital said that Rondon cut a “lonely” figure in the Venezuelan attack but he and strike partner Josef Martinez sometimes got the better of Argentine centre-backs Nicolás Otamendi and Germán Pezzella.
La Verdad claims the former West Brom and Newcastle striker had a chance to score against Messi and his teammates.
Sports newspaper Meridiano also suggests Rondon lacked support from the midfield and added that he was “the only [player] capable of playing with his back to the goal”.
Useless
Can somebody remind us again why Rafa Benitez thought it would be a good idea to sign Rondon?
While we cannot say too much about his performances for Venezuela, it does sound as though he’s just as ineffective for them as he is at Goodison Park.
Benitez seemed to simply sign Rondon because he was cheap and was half-decent in his time at Newcastle a few years ago.
But since that spell at St James’ Park, where he was only ever on loan and desperate to prove himself after being relegated at West Brom, Rondon’s been to China.
We’d rather see Cenk Tosun and some of our youth products play up front than a player who was signed simply because he was good pals with the manager at the time.
Rondon’s been hopeless, in all honesty, and we cannot get our heads around why he was brought in.
In other Everton news, one Evertonian has just weeks to save Farhad Moshiri from a financial “disaster”.
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