Mario Bermejo
 Mario Bermejo in 2009 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mario Bermejo Castanedo | ||
| Date of birth | 7 October 1978 | ||
| Place of birth | Santander, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Perines | |||
| Racing Santander | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1995–1997 | Racing B | ||
| 1995 | Racing Santander | 1 | (0) |
| 1997–2000 | Bilbao Athletic | 61 | (16) |
| 1998–2002 | Athletic Bilbao | 1 | (0) |
| 1998–1999 | → Cultural Leonesa (loan) | 28 | (3) |
| 2000 | → Eibar (loan) | 15 | (1) |
| 2000–2001 | → Gimnástica (loan) | 31 | (7) |
| 2001–2002 | → Hospitalet (loan) | 33 | (8) |
| 2002–2003 | Recreativo | 39 | (0) |
| 2004–2005 | Racing Ferrol | 55 | (32) |
| 2005–2006 | Albacete | 32 | (9) |
| 2006–2008 | Almería | 33 | (5) |
| 2007–2008 | → Poli Ejido (loan) | 35 | (5) |
| 2008–2011 | Xerez | 101 | (32) |
| 2011–2014 | Celta | 81 | (13) |
| National team | |||
| 1995 | Spain U16 | 7 | (2) |
| 1996 | Spain U18 | 3 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). | |||
Mario Bermejo Castanedo (born 7 October 1978) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as a striker.
A veteran in Segunda División, he amassed league totals of 267 games and 73 goals over the course of nine seasons, in representation of eight different clubs. In La Liga he played for Racing de Santander, Athletic Bilbao, Recreativo, Xerez and Celta, scoring 12 goals with the fourth team and 17 in total.
Football career
Bermejo was born in Santander, Cantabria. In his early years he played one game each in La Liga with Racing de Santander and Athletic de Bilbao, and then went on to represent sides in the lower leagues, on loan. His official debut with the latter came in a 1997–98 UEFA Cup match at U.C. Sampdoria, playing the final 30 minutes in the place of Ismael Urzaiz in an eventual 2–1 win; he was eligible to play for the Basque due to his father's roots.
For the 2002–03 season, definitely released by Athletic, Bermejo returned to the top level, but struggled to find the net the entire campaign for Recreativo de Huelva, which would befall again in next year's Segunda División. However, in 2004–05, he was instrumental in helping Racing de Ferrol maintain its league status, ending the campaign as the league's topscorer at 25 – this included four past UD Almería in a 6–1 away win, Ferrol's biggest win ever in the second level.[1]
The following seasons were also spent in the second level, with Albacete Balompié[2] and Almería. With the latter, he scored five league goals, helping the Andalusia outfit to its first ever top division promotion.
After a season-long loan spent with Polideportivo Ejido, Bermejo was released and joined another side in the region, Xerez CD.[3] His first year was highly productive both collectively (promotion, also a first-ever) and individually (12 league goals, third-best in the squad, to Momo's 17 and Antoñito's 13), and the player, aged 30, penned a new two-year link at the season's close.
In the 2009–10 campaign Xerez was immediately relegated back, but fought valliantly until the last rounds. Bermejo ranked amongst the league's topscorers at 12, namely netting in the last minute of a 2–1 home win against Almería on 1 May 2010.[4]
Bermejo signed with division two's Celta de Vigo in late June 2011.[5] He contributed with eight goals in 35 games – 30 starts – in his first season as the Galicians returned to the top flight after five years, his third individually.[6] In July 2014 the 35-year-old retired from the game, being immediately appointed director of football at his last club.[7]
Honours
Individual
- Segunda División: Top scorer 2004–05
References
- ↑ Bermejo se exhibe al marcar cuatro goles en el Mediterráneo (Bermejo shows off scoring four goals at the Mediterráneo); Diario AS, 7 February 2005 (Spanish)
- ↑ Bermejo prefiere un Segunda que fichar por un Primera (Bermejo prefers Segunda over Primera); El Mundo Deportivo, 18 May 2005 (Spanish)
- ↑ Mario Bermejo ya es oficialmente jugador del Xerez (Mario Bermejo is officially a Xerez player); La Voz Digital, 24 August 2008 (Spanish)
- ↑ Xerez edge out Almeria; ESPN Soccernet, 1 May 2010
- ↑ Mario Bermejo, al Celta (Mario Bermejo, to Celta); El Mundo Deportivo, 22 June 2011 (Spanish)
- ↑ Bermejo, el señor de los ascensos (Bermejo, lord of the promotions); Marca, 4 June 2012 (Spanish)
- ↑ Mario Bermejo retires, becomes deputy sporting director for Celta Vigo; Inside Spanish Football, 16 June 2014