Mario Uriel Méndez, commonly known as ''El Cholito'' (born January 5, 1977, in

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

, Chiriquí) is a retired

Panamanian Panamanians (; feminine ) are people identified with Panama, a country in Central America (which is the central section of the American continent), and with residential, legal, historical, or cultural connections with North America. For most Pan ...

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 ...

defender and currently is a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Playing career

Club

In Panama, Méndez played for Chiriquí, Tauro, Chorrillo, whom he joined in January 2006 from

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, and Atlético Chiriquí. In 2004, he had the opportunity to go to trial to

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

but hurt his

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcane ...

Julio Dely Valdés Julio César Dely Valdés (born March 12, 1967) is a Panamanian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is a twin brother of Jorge Dely Valdés and younger brother of Armando Dely Valdés. Club career Born in Colón, Dely ...

and

Jorge Dely Valdés Jorge Luis Dely Valdés (born March 12, 1967) is a Panamanian former footballer who played as a forward. He is a twin brother of Julio Dely Valdés and younger brother of Armando Dely Valdés. Club career Born in Colon, Dely Valdés began ...

farewell game.

International

Méndez made his debut for

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

in an August 1996

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

and has earned a total of 33 caps, scoring 4 goals. He represented his country in 8

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments ar ...

matches and ''El Cholito'' was part of the

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...

that participated in the

UNCAF Nations Cup 2003 The 2003 UNCAF Nations Cup was an association football tournament. It was held in two venues in Panama in February 2003, and was played in a round robin tournament, each of the 6 teams playing each other once. Costa Rica won their record fourt ...

held in

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

. His final international was an August 2003 friendly match against

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

International goals

:''Scores and results list Panama's goal tally first.''

Managerial career

Shortly after retiring in 2008, Méndez became the manager of Atlético Chiriquí (the only team in the

Liga Panameña de Fútbol The Liga Panameña de Fútbol (LPF; ) is the top division football league in Panama. Until 2009, the league was named ''Asociación Nacional Pro Fútbol (ANAPROF)''. Competition format The league's season is divided into two tournaments called t ...

Chiriquí). In the 2009 Apertura I championship, he led Atlético Chiriquí to their first qualification to the semifinals round after being 2nd in the general table. Unfortunately for ''Cholito'', they lost on

aggregate score There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...

. In August 2011 he became assistant to Miguel Mansilla at Chorrillo after he was dismissed as manager of the Panama U-20's. In May 2012 he returned at the helm at Atlético Chiriquí, only to resign in March 2013.Mario Méndez renuncia como técnico del Atlético Chiriquí
- La Prensa

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mendez, Mario 1977 births Living people People from David District Sportspeople from Chiriquí Province Men's association football defenders Panamanian men's footballers Panama men's international footballers Chiriquí F.C. players Tauro F.C. players San Francisco F.C. players Club Deportivo Universitario players Atlético Chiriquí players Panamanian football managers Central American Games silver medalists for Panama Central American Games medalists in football