Joseph Mendes (born 30 March 1991) is a 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 plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for club

Rodez Rodez ( or ; oc, Rodés, ) is a small city and commune in the South of France, about 150 km northeast of Toulouse. It is the prefecture of the department of Aveyron, region of Occitania (formerly Midi-Pyrénées). Rodez is the seat of the ...

. Born in France, Mendes represents the

Guinea-Bissau national football team The Guinea-Bissau national football team (Portuguese language, Portuguese: Seleção nacional de futebol da Guiné-Bissau) represents Guinea-Bissau in men's international association football and it is controlled by the Football Federation of Gu ...

internationally.

Club career

Born in Évreux, Mendes began his career at Grenoble in

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

. He made 14 total appearances in his only season, and scored his only goal on 17 December 2010, when he came on as an 84th-minute substitute for

Yoric Ravet Yoric Ravet (born 12 September 1989) is a French professional footballer who plays as a winger for French amateur club ES Manival. Club career Since childhood, Ravet was with Grenoble Foot 38, growing up in nearby Échirolles. He primarily pl ...

and wrapped up a 3–1 home win over Dijon. In October 2011, he signed for Championnat National team Épinal. In 2012, Mendes returned to the second tier with

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

. He remained there until December 2013, when he signed an 18-month deal with

Lokomotiv Plovdiv PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv ( bg, ПФК Локомотив Пловдив), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park ...

in the Bulgarian A Football Group. In June 2014, he returned to Ligue 2 with newly promoted club

Luzenac AP Luzenac AP (french: Luzenac Ariège Pyrénées) is a French football club based in the commune of Luzenac (650 inhabitants) ( Ariège). It was founded in 1936. They play at the Stade Paul Fédou, which has a capacity of 1,600. The colours of the cl ...

, who eventually were suspended from competition due to an inadequate stadium and released all of their professionals. In August, he signed a three-year deal with Le Havre in the same competition. He scored a career-best 9 goals in 2015–16, including two in a 3–1 win at Auxerre on 6 May 2016. On 8 July 2016, Mendes signed a two-year contract with Championship side Reading. Mendes scored a brace, on his first start in a 3–1 away victory over

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

on 15 April 2017. He played only seven times in his second season, and in May 2018 Reading decided against renewing his contract. On 2 July 2018, Mendes signed for Ligue 2 club AC Ajaccio. He joined up again with Ghislain Gimbert, his former Le Havre strike partner. Goalless across his entire first season, he scored his first goal for the

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

ns on 13 August 2019 in a 4–1 home win over Valenciennes in the first round of the

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in France, French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was est ...

. In 2020, Mendes signed for

side Niort. On 1 July 2022, Mendes joined

on a two-year deal.

International career

Born in France to a Bissau-Guinean father and a Senegalese mother, Mendes was first selected to the

for the

2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches were organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to decide the participating teams of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, the 32nd edition of the international men's football champion ...

match against Namibia in November 2018. He made his debut on 8 June 2019 in a friendly against Angola, as a starter, and later that month was chosen for the

2019 Africa Cup of Nations The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2019 or CAN 2019), known as the Total 2019 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champion ...

, in which his team were eliminated from the group stage in Egypt. In September 2019, Mendes scored all of Guinea-Bissau's goals in a 3–1 aggregate win over

São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe (; pt, São Tomé e Príncipe (); English: " Saint Thomas and Prince"), officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe ( pt, República Democrática de São Tomé e Príncipe), is a Portuguese-speaking i ...

in the first round of qualification for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

Career statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Guinea-Bissau's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mendes goal.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mendes, Joseph 1991 births Living people Sportspeople from Évreux Citizens of Guinea-Bissau through descent Men's association football forwards Bissau-Guinean footballers Guinea-Bissau men's international footballers French footballers Bissau-Guinean people of Senegalese descent French people of Bissau-Guinean descent French sportspeople of Senegalese descent Ligue 2 players Championnat National players Championnat National 2 players Championnat National 3 players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Grenoble Foot 38 players SAS Épinal players Le Mans FC players PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv players Reading F.C. players AC Ajaccio players Chamois Niortais F.C. players Rodez AF players Expatriate footballers in Bulgaria Expatriate footballers in England French expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria French expatriate sportspeople in England Bissau-Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Bissau-Guinean expatriate sportspeople in England English Football League players Black French sportspeople 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players Footballers from Normandy