Premier League cult hero Salomon Rondon was once slammed for having the “dumbest cameo in football history”.
Rondon, who turned 35 on Monday, is still playing professionally over in Mexico – and he’s a regular for the Venezuelan national team. However, it’s for his time spent at West Brom and Everton that most fans might remember him best – the former full of goals, and the latter, not so much.
It was during his barren spell with the Toffees when he was sent for an early bath, just four minutes after being introduced against Brentford in the heat of a relegation battle. Rondon was only introduced in the 84th minute, but gave Michael Oliver no choice after he recklessly lunged into a late challenge on Rico Henry, with both his feet off the ground as he missed the ball.
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Rondon’s dismissal meant Everton went down to nine men, after youngster Jarrad Branthwaite was red-carded in the 18th minute, and Brentford clinched the game 3-2. UK TV personality Piers Morgan took to social media to slam the striker.
He said on X, then known as Twitter: “You get brought on in the 84th minute, with your relegation-battling team already down to 10 men, and you do this three minutes later & get sent off. Take a bow, Mr Rondon, this might be the dumbest cameo in world football history.”
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Rondon posted an Instagram story after the game apologising for his sending off. He said: “I will always give my all on the pitch. I always want to help my club, teammates and fans. I tried to do that today and know that I wasn’t up to it in one incident and am truly sorry. My apologies from the bottom of my heart to the whole @Everton family.”
The red card meant he would miss the rest of the season – with Everton confirming their Premier League status by the skin of their teeth. Rondon would leave the Toffees the following December “with immediate effect after reaching an agreement with the club to terminate his contract” – before rocking up at South American giants River Plate the following month. He scored just one league goal in 27 appearances with Everton.