Mario Bermejo Castanedo (born 7 October 1978) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a striker.
A veteran in the Segunda División, he amassed totals of 267 games and 73 goals for eight clubs over nine seasons. In La Liga, he played for Racing de Santander, Athletic Bilbao, Recreativo, Xerez and Celta, scoring 12 goals for Xerez and 17 in total.
Club 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 Bilbao, and then went on to represent teams in the lower leagues on loan. His official debut with Athletic came in a 1997–98 UEFA Cup match at UC Sampdoria, playing the final 32 minutes in the place of Ismael Urzaiz in an eventual 2–1 win;Samp, che brutto scivolone (Samp, what a nasty fall); La Gazzetta dello Sport, 17 September 1997 (in Italian) he was deemed eligible to play for the team because of his father's Basque roots and an uncle's connections to the club hierarchy.
For the 2002–03 season, Bermejo was released by Athletic and returned to the top flight with Recreativo de Huelva. In 2004–05, he was instrumental in helping Racing de Ferrol to retain their status, ending the campaign as top scorer with 25 goals – this included four past UD Almería in a 6–1 away victory, Ferrol's biggest ever in that league.Bermejo se exhibe al marcar cuatro goles en el Mediterráneo (Bermejo shows off scoring four goals at the Mediterráneo); Diario AS, 7 February 2005 (in Spanish)Bermejo, el pichichi de Segunda, fichaje sorpresa (Bermejo, the Segunda pichichi, surprise signing); Diario AS, 17 May 2005 (in Spanish)
The following campaigns were also spent in the second division, with Albacete BalompiéBermejo prefiere un Segunda que fichar por un Primera (Bermejo prefers Segunda over Primera); Mundo Deportivo, 18 May 2005 (in Spanish) and Almería. He scored five league goals for the Andalusians in 2006–07, helping them to reach the top tier for the first time ever.
After a season-long loan at Polideportivo Ejido, Bermejo was released and joined another side in the region, Xerez CD.Mario Bermejo ya es oficialmente jugador del Xerez (Mario Bermejo is officially a Xerez player); La Voz Digital, 24 August 2008 (in Spanish) 2008–09 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, agreed to a new two-year contract. They were immediately relegated the following campaign, but the player ranked amongst the league's top scorers at 12, also netting in the last minute of a 2–1 home win against Almería on 1 May 2010.Xerez edge out Almeria; ESPN Soccernet, 1 May 2010
Bermejo signed with division two's RC Celta de Vigo in late June 2011.Mario Bermejo, al Celta (Mario Bermejo, to Celta); Mundo Deportivo, 22 June 2011 (in Spanish) He contributed eight goals from 35 appearances – 30 starts – in his first season as the Galicians returned to the top flight after five years, his third promotion.Bermejo, el señor de los ascensos (Bermejo, lord of the promotions); Marca, 4 June 2012 (in Spanish) In July 2014 the 35-year-old retired from the game, and was immediately appointed director of football at his last club.Mario Bermejo retires, becomes deputy sporting director for Celta Vigo ; Inside Spanish Football, 16 June 2014
Honours Xerez Segunda División: 2008–09
Individual Segunda División top scorer: 2004–05
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