Eugenio Leonel Méndez Henríquez (born 23 November 1941) is a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

an former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

winger who played professionally in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

and

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

Club career

Born in

Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...

, Méndez began playing football as a right winger with

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 their ...

. He made his Chilean league debut against

Audax Italiano Audax Club Sportivo Italiano () is a Chilean football club based in La Florida playing in the Campeonato Nacional, having has spent most of its history in the top tier of Chilean football. History The club was founded by Italian residents in S ...

in 1959. After nine years with Wanderers, he joined

Deportes Magallanes Magallanes is a Chilean football club based in San Bernardo, Chile. They play in the Primera B de Chile, after being relegated from the Chilean Primera División in 2023. History The club was on October 27, 1897, with the name Atlético Escuel ...

, as Wanderers won its second Chilean league title the same year. Méndez returned to Wanderers and played in the

1969 Copa Libertadores The 1969 Copa Libertadores de América was the 10th edition of the Copa Libertadores, a football competition contested between the top clubs of the CONMEBOL federation. Estudiantes de la Plata won the competition defeating Nacional 4–0 on po ...

. In 1973, Méndez moved abroad, joining

Mexican Primera División Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divi ...

side

Club de Fútbol Laguna Club de Fútbol Laguna A.C. (nicknamed La Ola Verde) is a football club. The club played in the Mexican football league system Primera División de México and it was based in Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico. History Club de Fútbol Laguna A.C. was ...

. Next, he played in

for

Sociedad Deportiva Aucas Sociedad Deportiva Aucas (), also known as "Papá Aucas", is a football club based in Quito, Ecuador. They play in the top tier of Ecuadorian football and have spent the majority of their history in the top-flight Serie A. The team is amongst th ...

before returning to Santiago Wanderers in 1974. A few seasons later, he moved to Bolivia where he finished his playing career.

International career

Méndez represented Chile at youth level in 1959. At senior level, Méndez appeared for the

Chile national football team The Chile national football team (), nicknamed ''La Roja'' (), represents Chile in men's international Association football, football competitions and is controlled by the Football Federation of Chile, Federación de Fútbol de Chile (), which ...

in the

1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 to 30 July 1966. England defeated West Germany 4–2 in the 1966 FI ...

qualifying rounds, scoring two goals in a 7–2 win against Colombia on 1 August 1965. In total, he made 4 appearances for the national team from 1964 to 1965.

Personal life

He is the older brother of Javier Méndez, who is also a Chilean former international footballer. He was nicknamed ''Pastelito'' (Little Cake).

Honours

Santiago Wanderers *

Copa Chile The Copa Chile (''Chile Cup'') is an annual cup competition for Chilean football teams. Due to time constraints and club pressure, the trophy was cancelled in 2000, but returned in 2008. Its precursor was the Campeonato de Apertura (''Opening Ch ...

(2):

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

Chile * (1):

References

External links

*
Profile
at Sanluissa.cl
Eugenio Méndez
at MemoriaWanderers {{DEFAULTSORT:Mendez, Eugenio 1941 births Living people Footballers from Valparaíso Chilean men's footballers Chile men's international footballers Chile men's under-20 international footballers Chilean expatriate men's footballers Santiago Wanderers footballers Deportes Magallanes footballers Deportes La Serena footballers Audax Italiano footballers S.D. Aucas footballers San Luis de Quillota footballers C.D. Jorge Wilstermann players Chilean Primera División players Primera B de Chile players Liga MX players Ecuadorian Serie B players Bolivian Primera División players Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Ecuador Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Bolivia Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Ecuador Expatriate men's footballers in Bolivia Men's association football wingers Chilean football managers Chilean expatriate football managers Club Destroyers managers Sport Boys Warnes managers Bolivian Primera División managers Expatriate football managers in Bolivia 20th-century Chilean sportsmen