Ronaldo Luis Peña Vargas (born 10 March 1997) is a Venezuelan

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 ...

who plays as a forward for Portuguesa.

Club career

Caracas

Peña made his debut as a senior with

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 Á ...

's B-team after coming through the club's youth academy. He first appeared with the main squad on 23 February 2014 by starting and scoring in a 4–1 home win Deportivo La Guaira in a Primera División match. He appeared in a further three matches for the first team before being loaned to

Portuguesa FC Portuguesa Fútbol Club, usually known simply as Portuguesa, is a Venezuelan football club based in Acarigua. History The club was founded on April 10, 1972, in Acarigua in the northern part of the state of Portuguesa. Rivalries Classic ...

on 25 August. On 22 July 2015, Peña was loaned to

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Las Palmas, on the island of Gran Canaria in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded on 22 August 1949, it plays in Segunda División, holding home games at the ...

for two years. After spending nearly nine months without playing a single match for the club due to bureaucratic problems, he made his debut with the C-team on 10 April 2016 by scoring a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

in a 4–0 home routing of CD Becerril. Promoted to the reserves ahead of the 2016–17 season, Peña scored another hat-trick in his first game for the side, a 5–0 thrashing of CD Buzanada. Ahead of the 2017–18 season, Peña was loaned to Portuguese

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal ...

side

Moreirense Moreirense Futebol Clube is a Portuguese professional football club based in Moreira de Cónegos, Guimarães Municipality, in Minho. Founded on 1 November 1938, it plays in the Liga Portugal 2, holding home games at Parque de Jogos Comendador J ...

. He made his debut for Moreirense on August 6, scoring in the 83rd minute to give ''Os verdes e brancos'' a 1–1 draw with Vitória Setúbal. He had 3 goals and 2 assists from 30 games across all competitions, helping Moreirense finish 15th in the league and avoid relegation by 2 points.

Houston Dynamo

On 5 July 2018, Peña was sold to

MLS 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 Cana ...

club Houston Dynamo. He made his debut on 4 August when he came on in a 1–0 loss to

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and the team clubhouse an ...

. He would get his first goal with the Dynamo on 23 August, when he came on as a sub and scored a late equalizer in a 1–1 draw against the Dynamo's biggest rival,

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise began play in 1996 as a charter club of the leag ...

. Peña was rewarded with his first start in the team's next match. However he failed to find the net as the team lost 1–0 to the

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 ...

. He ended his first season in Houston with 1 goal from 9 appearances. It was a disappointing season for the Dynamo in league play, failing to qualify for the playoffs. They enjoyed a successful cup run, winning the

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. O ...

, but Peña did not appear in the tournament. Peña made his first appearance of the 2019 season on 26 February in a 2–1 win over C.D. Guastatoya in a

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Amer ...

match. He missed the start of the MLS season due to a red card in the final game of 2018. He then missed extended time due to a knee injury at the start of the season. Peña scored his first goal and picked up his first assist of the season on 11 June in a 3–2 win over

Austin Bold Austin Bold FC was an American professional soccer team located in Austin, Texas. Founded in 2017, the team made its debut in the USL Championship in 2019. In 2021, Austin Bold FC announced it would be moving to Fort Worth, Texas leaving Circ ...

in a

US Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. Ope ...

match. Peña would score again on 18 June in a 3–2 defeat to Minnesota United in the US Open Cup. He ended the season with 4 appearances and no goals or assists in MLS play, but did score 2 goals from 2 appearances in the Open Cup. Peña also spent time on loan with Houston's

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

affiliate Rio Grande Valley FC, making 3 appearances. In 2020, Peña made 1 appearance all season, coming off the bench in a 1–1 draw against the LA Galaxy on July 23. His contract option was declined by Houston following their 2020 season.

Universidad Central

In April 2021, Peña signed with

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

side Universidad Central de Venezuela FC. He made his debut for UCV FC on 25 April, coming off the bench in a 2–0 loss to

Monagas ) , anthem = '' Himno del Estado Monagas'' , image_map = Monagas in Venezuela.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location within Venezuela , pushpin_map = , pushpin_m ...

. In June 2022, Peña joined Argentine

Primera Nacional Primera Nacional (usually called simply Nacional B, in English "National B Division", and known as Primera B Nacional until the 2019–20 season) is the second division of the Argentine football league system. The competition is made up of 37 team ...

club

Chacarita Juniors Club Atlético Chacarita Juniors (usually known simply as Chacarita) is an Argentine football club headquartered in Villa Crespo, Buenos Aires, while the stadium is located in Villa Maipú, General San Martín Partido of Greater Buenos Aires. ...

on loan for 18 months, with a purchase option.

International career

On 2 October 2018, Peña was called up for the Venezuela National team for friendlies against the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at ...

and Basque Country but did not feature in either game.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Club

; Houston Dynamo *

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

International

; Venezuela U-20 *

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when ...

: Runner-up

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

South American Youth Football Championship The South American Youth Football Championship, also known as U-20 South American Championship and es, Torneo Juventudes de América, "Campeonato Sudamericano Sub 20" or pt, Juventude da América (English: "America's Youth") is a South American ...

: Third Place

; Venezuela U-17 *

South American Under-17 Football Championship The South American U-17 Championship (; ) is a football competition held every two years for South American under-17 teams. The tournament was born in 1985 out of a need for a classification tournament for the newly created FIFA U-16 World Cup (no ...

: Runner-Up

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 ...

Personal life

His father played for professionally for Venezuelan club Portuguesa. Peña is named after legendary Brazilian footballer Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima.

References

External links

Soccer Sport Group profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pena, Ronaldo 1997 births Living people Sportspeople from Acarigua Venezuelan men's footballers Venezuelan expatriate men's footballers Men's association football forwards Venezuela men's under-20 international footballers Venezuelan Primera División players Caracas FC players Portuguesa F.C. players Tercera División players UD Las Palmas C players UD Las Palmas Atlético players Primeira Liga players Moreirense F.C. players Houston Dynamo FC players Rio Grande Valley FC Toros players Chacarita Juniors footballers Major League Soccer players USL Championship players Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in the United States Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Spain Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina