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 lea ...

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. 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 football club based in Medellín. The club is one of only three clubs to have played in every first division tournament in the country's history, the other ...

. 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 América de Cali S. A., best known as América de Cali or América, is a Colombian professional football club based in Cali. It competes in the Categoría Primera A, the top-flight league of Colombian football. The team plays its home games at ...

, 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 Domestic *Primera División Venezolana ...

. 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 professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

in the 2008

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

. He also led Maracaibo to the final of the Copa de Venezuela where his club would lose the series to Aragua Fútbol Club on away goals. Rojas signed with

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional association football, 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 (MLS), Eastern Conferenc ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

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

Los Angeles Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

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) Mexicable is an aerial lift line in Ecatepec de ...

. He then later also played for

Aragua Aragua State (, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. It is located in the north-central region of Venezuela. It has plains, jungles and Caribbean beaches. The most popular beaches are Cata and Choroni. It has Venezuela's first national par ...

and Metropolitanos. 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 in Maracaibo.

International goals

Honors

Universidad de Los Andes * Segunda División Venezolana: 1994–95 Caracas *

Primera División Venezolana Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera Ely Rafael Primera Ros ...

: 2000–01, 2002–03, 2005–06, 2006–07 * Copa de Venezuela: 2001 Atlético Nacional *

Copa Mustang Copa or COPA may refer to: COPA COPA may refer to: * Child Online Protection Act, a former U.S. law to protect minors from certain material on the internet * Canadian Owners and Pilots Association * Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association * Parlia ...

: 2005-I Unión Atlético Maracaibo * Copa de Venezuela runner-up: 2008 New York Red Bulls *

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

runner-up: 2008 Deportivo Táchira *

: 2010–11

Statistics

References

External links

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