Sebastián Ariel Méndez Pardiñas (born 4 July 1977) is an Argentine

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 ...

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 ...

and former player who played as a

central defender 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 was recently the manager of

Newell's Old Boys Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario, Santa Fe. The club was founded on 3 November 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell of the English county of Kent, one of the pioneers of Argentine football. A ...

. As a player, Méndez won the

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

with all three clubs he represented in his country, and also spent five seasons in Spain.

Playing career

A native of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, Méndez started his career with

Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield () is an Argentine sports club based in Liniers, Buenos Aires. Its football team plays in Argentine Primera División, Primera División, the highest level of the Argentine football league system, Argentine league ...

. He made his debut in the Primera División on 24 July 1994 against

Deportivo Español Club Social, Deportivo y Cultural Español de la República Argentina (commonly referred to as Deportivo Español) is an Argentine sports club from the Parque Avellaneda district of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its football team, wh ...

, aged only 17. During his tenure the club had the most sustained period of success in its history, collecting three leagues and other five international tournaments, with the player being an undisputed starter during his last six years. In January 2002, Méndez moved to Spain to play for

RC Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was fou ...

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 ...

, during the Galician team's heyday. He started rarely in his four-and-a-half-year spell (a maximum of 16 games in the 2004–05 season, with the side in

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 ...

), but did amass 69 competitive appearances. Méndez returned to his country in 2006, signing with

San Lorenzo de Almagro Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro is an Argentine professional sports club based in the Boedo neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its football team, which plays in the Primera División, the first tier of the Argentine foot ...

and helping it to the following year's Clausura tournament to conquer his fourth league title. He took part in only a few matches during 2008, however, mostly because of constant injuries and

erections An erection (clinically: penile erection or penile tumescence) is a Physiology, physiological phenomenon in which the penis becomes firm, engorged, and enlarged. Penile erection is the result of a complex interaction of psychological, neural, ...

. Méndez was transferred to

Club Atlético Banfield Club Atlético Banfield is an Argentine sports club based in the Banfield, Buenos Aires, Banfield city of Greater Buenos Aires. It was founded on 21 January 1896, by the British–origin inhabitants of that city (mostly English people, English, ...

for the 2009–10 campaign, and was a key member of the squad that won the 2009 Apertura, appearing in all 19 games. On 13 December 2009, the club celebrated its first-ever Argentine top flight accolade but, shortly after, he announced his retirement from football at the age of 32.

Coaching career

On 4 April 2010, Méndez returned to San Lorenzo now as a

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caret ...

, following

Diego Simeone Diego Pablo Simeone González (; ; born 28 April 1970), nicknamed "El Cholo" (), is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who played as a defender. He has been the manager of club Atlético Madrid since December 2011 mak ...

's dismissal. On 21 December he landed his first full-time job, in another of his former clubs, Banfield, where he replaced

Julio César Falcioni Julio César Falcioni (born 20 July 1956 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine football manager and former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He last managed Banfield. Playing career Club career Falcioni started his career at Vélez Sársfiel ...

. From late 2019 to November 2020, Méndez was

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona Franco (30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional association football, football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two ...

's assistant coach in Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata and acted as head coach in the matches Maradona could not attend. Following Maradona's death on 25 November 2020, he became Gimnasia

but resigned on the next day.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Vélez *

: Apertura 1995, Clausura 1996, Clausura 1998 *

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

* Intercontinental Cup:

Copa Interamericana The Copa Interamericana () was an international association football, football competition endorsed by CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean) and CONMEBOL (South America). Established in 1969, it was discontinued in 1998 after CONCACAF ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

Supercopa Sudamericana The Supercopa Libertadores (English: ''Libertadores Supercup''), also known as the Supercopa Sudamericana, Supercopa Libertadores João Havelange, Supercopa João Havelange or simply Supercopa, was a football club competition contested annually be ...

Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana (), also known as Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club Association football, football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1988. It ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

San Lorenzo *

: Clausura 2007 Banfield *

: Apertura 2009

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mendez, Sebastian 1977 births Living people Argentine sportspeople of Spanish descent Footballers from Buenos Aires Argentine men's footballers Men's association football defenders Argentine Primera División players Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield footballers San Lorenzo de Almagro footballers Club Atlético Banfield footballers La Liga players Segunda División players RC Celta de Vigo players Argentina men's international footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine football coaches Argentine football managers San Lorenzo de Almagro managers Club Atlético Banfield managers Club Atlético Atlanta managers Club Atlético Platense managers Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy managers Godoy Cruz Antonio Tomba managers Club Atlético Belgrano managers Club Deportivo Palestino managers Cúcuta Deportivo managers Club Tijuana managers Unión de Santa Fe managers Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield managers Newell's Old Boys managers Argentine Primera División managers Primera B Nacional managers Chilean Primera División managers Categoría Primera A managers Liga MX managers Argentine expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Chile Expatriate football managers in Colombia Expatriate football managers in Mexico Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Chile Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Colombia Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Mexico