Gabriel Rafael Mendoza Ibarra (born 22 May 1968), commonly known as Coca Mendoza for his similarity with the television actress

Coca Guazzini Silvia Beatriz Guazzini Monsalve (born December 22, 1953 in Santiago), best known as Coca Guazzini, is a Chilean television, theatre and film actress. Guazzini studied theatre at Universidad de Chile. She appeared in some popular Chilean telenov ...

, is a Chilean former professional footballer who played 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 ...

and

central 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 ...

. Mendoza was member of

Colo-Colo Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo () is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano they play in the Chilean Primera División, from which they have never been relegated. The team has pla ...

's historic squad that achieved

1991 Copa Libertadores The 1991 Copa Libertadores was won by Colo-Colo of Chile after defeating Olimpia of Paraguay with a 3–0 aggregate score in the finals. The championship would mark a first for a Chilean club team in an international tournament. Twenty-one clubs ...

Playing career

Mendoza was born in

Graneros Graneros is a Chilean commune and city in Cachapoal Province, O'Higgins Region. Deportes Graneros se conoce como unas de las candidatas a ganar la copa de la región Libertador Bernardo Ohiggins Tiene su Estadio renovado,El Estadio Miguel Riffo ...

. He arrived to

, after of made a recognized season with O'Higgins. In the Cacique, he immediately was won the position of

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 ...

in the squad of the coach Mirko Jozic, European style assiduously defensive, but with very vertigo in the sidebands. He was one of key players of the club in the squad that Colo-Colo achieved the Copa Libertadores 1991, after of defeat to Olimpia for 3–0 in the final, however he also was included in the best team of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

. Mendoza also won the

Chilean Primera Division Chilean may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Chile, a country in South America * Chilean people * Chilean Spanish * Chilean culture * Chilean cuisine * Chilean Americans See also *List of Chileans This is a list of Chileans who ar ...

with the club in the same year. In the match against Puebla for Recopa Sudamericana of 1992, he scored one of three goals of Colo-Colo, in the 3–1 victory. After of four good seasons, he was signed by

Tigres UANL Club de Fútbol Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, simply known as Tigres UANL or Tigres, is a Mexican professional football club based in San Nicolás de los Garza, a city in the Monterrey metropolitan area, Nuevo León. Found ...

of Mexico. After of made an irregular season with Tigres, he return to Chile, for play at

Santiago Wanderers Club de Deportes Santiago Wanderers is a football club based in Valparaíso, a founding member of the Chilean Football Federation. Their home ground, Estadio Elías Figueroa Brander, is in the north-west of the city. Wanderers have played thei ...

in 2000. One year later, he returned to Colo-Colo. After of his spent for Colo-Colo, he joined to

Shandong Luneng Shandong Taishan Football Club () is a professional football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Jinan, Shandong and their home stadium is th ...

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional association ...

. He had gone to China along with Ricardo Queraltó, but he just could sign with the club. Finally in 2002, he return to Chile for finish his career at

Santiago Morning Club de Deportes Santiago Morning (popularly known as Chaguito Morning or Morning) is a Chilean professional football club based in Recoleta, Santiago. They compete in the Primera B. Santiago Morning was one of Primera División de Chile found ...

Post-playing career

In 2005, Gabriel Mendoza participated in the reality show La Granja VIP. During the reality, he was the runner-up of the contest, after of loss in a mourning of force at final against the Spanish singer Javier Estrada. After of his participation in this reality, he was invited to many stellars of the Chilean TV. In 2009, Mendoza once appeared in a TV series, the reality show 1810 of Canal 13. He had his personal revenge, because he won the final of the reality, winning a reward of 50 million

pesos The peso is the monetary unit of several countries in the Americas, and the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries the peso uses the same sign, "$", as many currencies named "dollar" ...

(US$80.000). Currently Mendoza plays in the Chile national team of Showbol, tournament of

futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is ...

played for all

. He also has a football school in Viña del Mar, called Gabriel "Coca" Mendoza. In the 2016 Chilean municipal elections, Mendoza was elected as a councilman for Viña del Mar with the

Independent Democratic Union The Independent Democratic Union (''Unión Demócrata Independiente'', UDI) is a conservative and right-wing political party in Chile, founded in 1983. Its founder was the lawyer, politician and law professor Jaime Guzmán, a civilian allied with ...

, winning 5,314 votes, the most in that city's election.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mendoza, Gabriel 1968 births Living people People from Graneros Footballers from O'Higgins Region Chilean people of Basque descent Chilean men's footballers Chilean expatriate men's footballers Chile men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Tigres UANL footballers Shandong Taishan F.C. players São Paulo FC players Colo-Colo footballers Santiago Morning footballers O'Higgins F.C. footballers Santiago Wanderers footballers 1991 Copa América players 1993 Copa América players 1995 Copa América players Primera B de Chile players Chilean Primera División players Liga MX players Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Expatriate men's footballers in China Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Chilean expatriate sportspeople in China Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Reality show winners Reality television participants Independent Democratic Union politicians Chilean television personalities