César Domingo González López (born 25 June 1966), known as César Mendiondo, 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 lea ...

who played as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. He played in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

for

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

, Español, and Mérida, making a total of 103 top flight appearances.

Club career

Born in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, Mendiondo started out playing in the youth teams of local club

. He was promoted into the senior sides at the age of 18 in 1984, and although he appeared primarily for the B team,

Atlético Madrileño Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy * Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic C ...

, over the next two seasons, he did make one appearance in

for the first team. Coach

Luis Aragonés Luis Aragonés Suárez (; 28 July 1938 – 1 February 2014) was a Spanish football player and manager. Aragonés spent the majority of his career as a player and coach at Atlético Madrid. He was a prominent player and then coach of the succes ...

handed him his top flight debut in a 3–0 home win over

Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish ...

at the

Vicente Calderón Stadium The Vicente Calderón Stadium ( ) was the home stadium of Atlético Madrid from its completion in 1966 to 2017, with a seating capacity of 54,907. It was located on the banks of the Manzanares, in the Arganzuela district of Madrid, Spain. The ...

on 9 September 1984. Mendiondo joined

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

side

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish foot ...

in 1986, and was a key part of their first team for three seasons. They earned promotion as runners-up in 1988–89, but Mendiondo moved on at the end of that season, joining Español. At Español, he made 151 appearances in all competitions across six seasons, including two promotions to

in 1989–90 and as champions in 1993–94. Mendiondo moved to fellow first division side Mérida in 1995, but played only one game as the side was relegated in his first season. He was somewhat more prominent the following season as Mérida claimed the Segunda División title at the first attempt, earning Mendiondo the fourth La Liga promotion of his career. He retired in 1998 at the age of 32, following a final season in which he failed to make a single appearance for the club.

International career

Mendiondo was a youth international for Spain at all levels from under-16 to under-21 level. 1985 was his busiest year as an international. He played his sole under-19 match, playing the first 66 minutes of a 2–1 loss against Mexico in

Medina de Pomar Medina de Pomar is a municipality and town located in the province of Burgos, Castile and León, Spain, 77 km from Bilbao, and 8 kilometres from Villarcayo. Medina de Pomar is part of the Comarca of Las Merindades. Notable people * Ram ...

before being replaced by

José Aurelio Gay José Aurelio Gay López (born 10 December 1965) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a midfielder, currently a manager. He was associated with Zaragoza throughout his career, serving the club as both a player and manager. He amassed L ...

. The same year, Mendiondo played all four matches for the under-21 side at the

Toulon Tournament The Maurice Revello Tournament (officially French: the ''Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello''), previously known as the Toulon Tournament, is a Association football, football tournament, which traditionally features invit ...

, in which Spain placed third after a third-place play-off win over Cameroon. He was also an ever-present for

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

at the

1985 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1985 FIFA World Youth Championship was the fifth edition FIFA U-20 World Cup, FIFA World Youth Championship, was held in the Soviet Union (USSR) from 24 August to 7 September 1985. The tournament took place in ten venues within eight host citie ...

in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, in which Spain were the runners-up, losing 1–0 to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

in the final. Mendiondo was never called up to the senior national side.

Coaching career

After his retirement, Mendiondo returned to

as part of the coaching team, and later joined the

Royal Spanish Football Federation The Royal Spanish Football Federation (; RFEF) is the governing body of football in Spain. Founded on 29 September 1913, it is based in La Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas de Madrid, Las Rozas, a municipality near Madrid. RFEF organizes the natio ...

to play the same role with the Spanish national side. He reunited with his first manager,

, when the latter took over as national team head coach, and was Aragonés's assistant when Spain won

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

. Mendiondo followed Aragonés to Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

side Fenerbahçe in 2008, where he again acted as his assistant. Fenerbahçe reached the final of the 2008–09 Turkish Cup in Aragonés and Mendiondo's solo season at the club, ultimately losing to

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

. Mendiondo returned to the Süper Lig in 2013 with

Sivasspor Sivasspor Kulübü, known as Net Global Sivasspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish sports club based in Sivas. The primary department of the club is men's football. Formed in 1967, its football department has competed in Süper Lig since t ...

, this time as assistant to

Roberto Carlos Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), often known as Roberto Carlos and sometimes ''RC3'', is a Brazilian former professional association football, footballer. He has been described as the "most offensive-minded left-back in the ...

. Later the same year, he had his first spell as a head coach, back in his home country with

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

side Torrejón. Ahead of the 2015–16 season, Mendiondo took charge of

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

team

Hapoel Tel Aviv Hapoel Tel Aviv () is a sports club in Israel, founded in the 1920s, and part of the Hapoel association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as football, basketball, w ...

, replacing

Eli Cohen Eliyahu Ben-Shaul Cohen (‎; ‎; 26 December 1924 – 18 May 1965) was an Egyptian-born Israeli spy. He is best known for his espionage work in Syria between 1961 and 1965, where he developed close relationships with the Syrian poli ...

. Mendiondo was sacked on 3 September after only two league games: a 0–0 away draw with

Beitar Jerusalem Beitar Jerusalem Football Club (), commonly known as Beitar Jerusalem () or simply Beitar (), is an Israeli professional football club based in the city of Jerusalem, that plays in the Israeli Premier League, the top tier in Israeli football ...

at the

Teddy Stadium Teddy Stadium () is a sports stadium in Jerusalem. Two major Israeli football clubs currently use it as their home ground: Beitar Jerusalem and Hapoel Jerusalem. The Israel national football team also uses it for select home matches. The stadi ...

, and a 3–0 home loss to

Ironi Kiryat Shmona Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona Football Club () known as Ironi Kiryat Shmona is a professional football club based in Kiryat Shmona, in the northern district of Israel. The club is a current member of the Israeli Premier League, and plays at the Iro ...

at the

Bloomfield Stadium Bloomfield Stadium () is a football stadium in Tel Aviv, Israel, with a capacity of 29,400. It is the home stadium of Hapoel Tel Aviv and Maccabi Tel Aviv. The stadium also serves the Israel national football team for some select home matches ...

Personal life

Mendiondo's father, José Mendiondo, was also a professional footballer, representing

as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In October 2011, César legally changed his name to César Mendiondo López, making official the nickname by which both he and his father were best known.

Honours

Atlético Madrid *

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

: 1984–85 Rayo Vallecano *

: Runners-up 1988–89 Espanyol *

: 1993–94 Mérida *

: 1996–97

References

External links

* *
Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mendiondo, César 1966 births Living people Footballers from Madrid Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Community of Madrid Men's association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Tercera División players Atlético Madrid C players Atlético Madrid B players Atlético Madrid footballers Rayo Vallecano players RCD Espanyol footballers CP Mérida footballers Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Fenerbahçe S.K. (football) non-playing staff Spanish football managers Tercera División managers Spanish expatriate football managers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Israel Expatriate football managers in Israel Israeli Premier League managers Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. managers 20th-century Spanish sportsmen