Emmanuel Henry Gomis Mendy (born 30 March 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. Raised in Spain, he never played higher than

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

, and had unsuccessful spells at clubs in five foreign countries, including

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. Mendy chose to represent

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...

at international level, making his debut in 2016 and being chosen for the

2017 Africa Cup of Nations The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2017 or CAN 2017), known as the Total 2017 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champions ...

Club career

Born in Medina Gounass, Senegal, Mendy emigrated to the Spanish town of

Vícar Vícar is a municipality of Almería province, in the autonomous community of Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous ...

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city gr ...

as an infant and is a naturalised Spanish citizen. He began his career as a youth at Murcia Deportivo CF and was signed by

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

in July 2008. Mendy never made the senior team at

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

and went to

FC Dinamo Tbilisi FC Dinamo Tbilisi ( ka, დინამო თბილისი, ) is a Georgian professional football club based in Tbilisi, Georgia, that competes in the Erovnuli Liga, the top flight of Georgian football. Dinamo Tbilisi was one of the mo ...

in Georgia in 2012; he missed several months through an ankle injury after his first game and was then no longer required. He then spent an entire year unemployed before being signed by FK Daugava in Latvia. Having only been paid for two of five months' work for the

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

-based club, he returned to Spain and swore never to work abroad again. After a spell at

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

club

Huércal-Overa CF Huércal-Overa Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football Club based in Huércal-Overa, and plays in Tercera División – Group 13, holding home games at ''El Hornillo'', with a capacity of 2,000 (785 seated). The club was initially formed on 1 July ...

, Mendy went back abroad in early 2016 to play for CSM Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț in

Liga II The Liga 2, most often spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed its name from Divizia B just before the start of the 2006–07 Liga II, 2006–07. It is currently Sponsor (commercial), sp ...

, a team who refused to pay their players anything more than a daily meal in a

soup kitchen A soup kitchen, food kitchen, or meal center, is a place where food is offered to the Hunger, hungry usually for free or sometimes at a below-market price (such as via coin donations upon visiting). Frequently located in lower-income neighborhoo ...

. Having lost seven kilograms through the ordeal, he returned to Spain's fourth tier at

CA Pulpileño Club Atlético Pulpileño is a football team based in Pulpí, Almería, but has its headquarters in Pozo de la Higuera, Murcia. Founded in 2002, the team plays in . The club's home ground is ''Estadio San Miguel''. Season to season ---- *1 seas ...

. In January 2017, he moved up a level by signing for

CD Eldense Club Deportivo Eldense is a Spanish football team based in Elda, in the autonomous community of Valencia. Founded in 1921, the club plays in the Primera División RFEF – Group 2, and holds home matches at ''Estadio Nuevo Pepico Amat'', which ha ...

, and caused a police investigation in April that year when he stated to Cadena SER that the club's assistant manager, Fran Ruiz, had told him to throw a game against FC Barcelona B.

International career

Mendy represents

at international level, becoming eligible through his parents. He made his debut on 23 March 2016 in a 1–0 win away to

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

in qualification for the

. Due to the suspension of regular goalkeeper Jonas Acevedo, he used his connections to recommend Papa Massé Fall, another Senegalese-born player resident in Vícar, to be in goal for the next game against

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

in June.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mendy, Emmanuel 1990 births Living people Senegalese people of Bissau-Guinean descent Sportspeople of Bissau-Guinean descent Bissau-Guinean people of Senegalese descent Sportspeople of Senegalese descent Senegalese men's footballers Bissau-Guinean men's footballers Guinea-Bissau men's international footballers Senegalese expatriate men's footballers Bissau-Guinean expatriate men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Liverpool F.C. players FC Dinamo Tbilisi players FK Daugava (2003) players Huércal-Overa CF players CD Eldense footballers CSM Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț players CF Torre Levante players Erovnuli Liga players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Liga II players Latvian Higher League players Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Latvia Expatriate men's footballers in Georgia (country) Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Bissau-Guinean expatriate sportspeople in England Bissau-Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Georgia (country) Bissau-Guinean expatriates in Latvia Bissau-Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Romania Bissau-Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Norway Senegalese emigrants to Spain Naturalised citizens of Spain Spanish people of Bissau-Guinean descent