Gaizka Mendieta Zabala (, ; born 27 March 1974) is a Spanish former professional

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 le ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. A versatile player, with good technique, offensive capabilities and tackling skills, who was capable of creating goals both for his teammates and himself, he played mainly for

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

, and finished his career with

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

in England. Over the course of ten seasons, he amassed

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

totals of 263 games and 48 goals. Mendieta played 40 times for

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, appearing for the country in one World Cup and one European Championship.

Club career

Valencia

Born in

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

Basque Country Basque Country may refer to: * Basque Country (autonomous community), as used in Spain ( es, País Vasco, link=no), also called , an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain (shown in pink on the map) * French Basque Country o ...

, Mendieta made his professional debut at just 17 with CD Castellón in

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

, featuring mostly as a full-back. After just one season he moved to

after signing with Valencia CF for 30 million pesetas, but spent the vast majority of his first year with the reserves, making his

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

debut on 13 June 1993 against

Cádiz CF Cádiz Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., known simply as Cádiz, is a Spanish professional football club based in Cádiz, Andalusia. Founded in 1910, the club competes in the La Liga, holding home games at Nuevo Mirandilla, with a seating capacity of 20 ...

; he played 34 of 42 games during the 1995–96 season as the latter finished runners-up, their best result since 1990. Mendieta 95-96

The 1997–98 campaign was Mendieta's breakthrough season, under new manager

Claudio Ranieri Claudio Ranieri Grande Ufficiale OMRI (; born 20 October 1951) is an Italian football manager and former player. He will be the new head coach of club Cagliari from 1 January 2023. Ranieri began his managerial career in the lower leagues in It ...

. Moving to a

central midfield A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

role he played 30 league matches and scored ten goals, soon making his debut for the national team. In June 1999 he won his first trophy with the club, beating

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

in the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

; he found the net in wins over

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. (, ca-valencia, Llevant Unió Esportiva ) is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 9 September 1909, Levante ...

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

(both legs) and

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

during the run to

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

, where he scored a memorable goal: controlling a cross on his chest, he flicked the ball over his own head and two defenders before turning to volley past the goalkeeper. Under new manager Héctor Cúper, Mendieta had an even better year in 1999–2000. He helped Valencia beat Barcelona 4–3 on

aggregate Aggregate or aggregates may refer to: Computing and mathematics * collection of objects that are bound together by a root entity, otherwise known as an aggregate root. The aggregate root guarantees the consistency of changes being made within the ...

to win the

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...

, and netted a career-best 13 goals as the ''Che'' finished third. However, the biggest triumph of the season was helping his team reach

of the season's

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

, a 0–3 loss to fellow league side Real Madrid; later, he was awarded the "European Midfielder of the Season" award. Valencia reached the final of the Champions League in the following year and lost it again, this time to

FC Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which play ...

after a penalty shootout. Mendieta scored an early

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

in normal time to give his team a 1–0 lead, and also converted his attempt in the shootout, being again named "UEFA Best Midfielder of the Year".

Moving abroad

Mendieta was one of the most sought-after players in the 2001 off-season, eventually earning a

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

47.7 million transfer (or a reported 8 billion pesetas) to Italian club

S.S. Lazio Società Sportiva Lazio (; ; ''Lazio Sport Club''), commonly referred to as Lazio, is an Italian professional sports club based in Rome, most known for its football activity. The society, founded in 1900, plays in the Serie A and have spent ...

, being at the time the sixth most expensive player of all time. However, he disappointed in

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

, spending only one year in Rome while failing to match the performances of departed playmakers Pavel Nedvěd and Juan Sebastián Verón. Mendieta was loaned to Barcelona for the 2002–03 season– he started most of the fixtures, but the Catalans could only rank sixth – and subsequently he moved to

, choosing the

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 over offers from his homeland (Atlético Madrid and

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...

) due to a desire to play in England.

Middlesbrough

In his first season at Middlesbrough, Mendieta was part of the team that

won Won may refer to: *The Korean won from 1902–1910 *South Korean won, the currency of the Republic of Korea *North Korean won, the currency of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea * Won (Korean surname) * Won (Korean given name) * Won Buddhis ...

the

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

, bringing the Teesside club its first ever silverware. In July 2004, the move was made permanent with no transfer fee involved. In his last two years, a string of injuries (including one which caused him to miss the

2006 UEFA Cup Final The 2006 UEFA Cup Final was a football match that took place at Philips Stadion in Eindhoven, Netherlands on 10 May 2006 as the culmination of the 2005–06 UEFA Cup. The match was contested by Middlesbrough of England and Sevilla of Spain. Both s ...

) and long spells of regaining match fitness relegated Mendieta to the substitutes bench. He fell out of favour with manager

Gareth Southgate Gareth Southgate (born 3 September 1970) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a defender and midfielder. He has been the manager of the England national team since 2016. Southgate won the League Cup w ...

, who made it clear that the player no longer featured in his first team plans. Reports suggested that

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...

, Athletic Bilbao and

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a association football, football club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, that competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, ...

were interested in purchasing the midfielder in the January 2007

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer win ...

, however no concrete agreement was ever made, and the transfer deadline passed amid speculation that the player was set for a move to Los Angeles Galaxy; towards its end, he was quoted to have said that he would fight for his place at Middlesbrough. A day later, ''Boro's'' chief executive Keith Lamb disregarded his comments saying that there was "no chance" of him featuring in the first team. He played his last game on 26 December 2006, against Everton. On 5 December 2007, according to a Spanish newspaper, Mendieta announced his retirement from professional football when his Middlesbrough contract expired at the end of the 2007–08 campaign, He was finally released on 13 May 2008, ending a successful 17-year professional career. On 3 November 2009, Mendieta was quoted as saying a part of him would be interested in football management when interviewed by the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

. He said: "A part of me can see the excitement and challenge of being a manager, definitely." After retiring, he settled with his family near

, in

Yarm Yarm, also referred to as Yarm-on-Tees, is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. It was previously a port town before the industry moved down the River Tees to more accessible settlements ne ...

International career

In March/May 1996, Mendieta was part of the Spain under-21 team which was runner-up in the

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...

. He made his senior side debut on 27 March 1999, coming on as a substitute for

Juan Carlos Valerón Juan Carlos Valerón Santana (born 17 June 1975) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, currently a manager. Over 15 seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 390 matches and 29 goals in representation of Mallorca, ...

in a 9–0 thrashing of

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

for

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

's qualifying stages; he was included in the list of 22 for the competition in Belgium and the Netherlands, helping the national side reach the last eight. Despite his form slump at Lazio, Mendieta was picked for the squad at the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

, scoring one goal in three matches for the eventual quarter-finalists, against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

(3–2 win), and scoring the winning penalty in the penalty shootout of Spain's second-round game against the Republic of Ireland. The last of his 40 caps was earned in a

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

with

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

, four months after the World Cup. Mendieta also featured and scored for the unofficial Basque Country regional team.

Media

Mendieta was sponsored by sportswear company Nike, and appeared in commercials for the brand. In a global advertising campaign in the run-up to the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, he starred in a "

Secret Tournament "Secret Tournament" (also known as "Scorpion KO" or "The Cage") was a Nike, Inc., Nike global advertising campaign coinciding with the 2002 FIFA World Cup. With a marketing budget estimated at US$100 million, the advert featured 24 top contemp ...

" commercial (branded "Scorpion KO") directed by Terry Gilliam, appearing alongside footballers such as

Luís Figo Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo (; born 4 November 1972) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a winger for Sporting CP, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan. He won 127 caps for the Portugal national team, a one-ti ...

Thierry Henry Thierry Daniel Henry (born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach, pundit, and former player who is an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. Considered one of the best strikers of all time and one of the best players ...

Hidetoshi Nakata is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest Asian players of all time. Nakata began his professional career in 1995 and won the Asian Football Confederation Player ...

, Roberto Carlos,

Ronaldinho Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born 21 March 1980), commonly known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho () or simply Ronaldinho, is a Brazilian retired professional footballer who played mostly as an attacking midfielder, but was also deployed as a winger. Wide ...

Ronaldo Ronaldo is a Portuguese given name equivalent to the English Ronald. It became a common name in all Portuguese-speaking countries, being also prevalent in Italy and Spanish-speaking countries. People Notable people known as Ronaldo include: As ...

and Francesco Totti, with former player

Eric Cantona Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona (; ; born 24 May 1966) is a French actor, director, producer, and former professional footballer. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, Cantona is credited as having made Manchester United a d ...

the tournament "referee". Mendieta also worked as a

pundit A pundit is a person who offers mass media opinion or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport). Origins The term originates from the Sanskrit term ('' '' ), meaning "knowledg ...

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

' UK television coverage of Spanish football.

Personal life

Mendieta's father Andrés was also a footballer who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. Originally from Lekeitio,

Biscay Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. B ...

, he spent his final years as a player at Castellón and later worked on the club's staff, raising his family in the region. Thus, Gaizka emerged through their youth system despite his Basque birthplace. Fellow Bilbao-born Spain internationals Ander Herrera and

Roberto Ríos Roberto Ríos Patus (born 8 October 1971) is a Spanish retired professional Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football)#Centre-back, central defender. Club career Although Basque Country (autonomous communi ...

had similar origins, learning their skills in the cities where their footballing fathers ( Pedro and Eusebio respectively) were based professionally. However, both later signed for Athletic Bilbao, while Mendieta never featured for a Basque club; him and his father both represented

at the Olympic Games tournament, the latter in

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

and the former in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

. Mendieta was a talented athlete as a youth and came close to pursuing

middle-distance running Middle-distance running events are Track and field#Running, track races longer than Sprint (running), sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be clas ...

as a career over football. He is a fan of music, and in particular has a passion for DJing;, he also appeared on-stage at the

Benicàssim festival Benicàssim (; es, Benicasim ; ar, بنو قاسم, translit=banū qāsim, or ar, بني قاسم, translit=banī qāsim, label=none, according to numismatic findings) is a municipality and beach resort located in the province of Castelló, ...

in 2015 during a set by the band

Los Planetas Los Planetas (''The Planets'') is a Spanish indie rock group from the city of Granada which started out in the second half of the 1990s and continue now through the 2000s. The group's first hit was "Qué puedo hacer" (''What can I do?'') from th ...

, whose song "Un buen día" referenced him in its lyrics. Mendieta stated that

Ruud Gullit Ruud Gullit (; born Rudi Dil; 1 September 1962) is a Dutch footballer and subsequent manager who played professionally in the 1980s and 1990s as a defender, midfielder or forward. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all t ...

was his footballing hero as an adolescent, due to the Dutchman's unconventional style.

Career statistics

Club

:Sources:

International

:Sources: Appearances and goals by national team and year International goals :Source:

Honours

Valencia *

: 1998–99 *

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

runner-up: 1999–2000, 2000–01 Middlesbrough *

: 2003–04 *

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

runner-up: 2005–06 Spain U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the compe ...

runner-up:

; Third place

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

Individual *

UEFA Club Football Awards In recognition of the best players in the UEFA Champions League each year, UEFA gives out several awards to the most outstanding performers of the European club football season. The awards are presented in August each year at a special gala in Monac ...

: Best Midfielder 1999–2000, 2000–01 *

ESM Team of the Year The European Sports Media (ESM), formerly European Sports Magazines, is an association of football-related publications in Europe. Members European Sports Media was established in 1989 as an international body for football journalism. Its nine fo ...

: 2000–01

References

External links

*
CiberChe biography and stats
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mendieta, Gaizka 1974 births Living people Spanish footballers Footballers from Bilbao Association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players CD Castellón footballers Valencia CF Mestalla footballers Valencia CF players FC Barcelona players Serie A players S.S. Lazio players Premier League players Middlesbrough F.C. players Spain youth international footballers Spain under-21 international footballers Spain under-23 international footballers Spain international footballers UEFA Euro 2000 players 2002 FIFA World Cup players Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Spain Basque Country international footballers Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England