Carlos Mendes

Carlos Mendes

Personal information
Full name	Carlos Mendes
Date of birth	December 25, 1980 (1980-12-25)
Place of birth	Mineola, New York, United States
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Columbus Crew
Number	4
Youth career
1993–1998	Mineola Portuguese Soccer Club
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2002	Long Island Rough Riders	10	(0)
2003–2004	Rochester Rhinos	37	(1)
2005–2011	New York Red Bulls	146	(0)
2012–	Columbus Crew	0	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of September 25, 2011. † Appearances (Goals).

Mendes playing for New York Red Bulls

Carlos Mendes (born December 25, 1980 in Mineola, New York) is an American soccer player who plays for Columbus Crew in Major League Soccer.

Career

College

Mendes played college soccer at Old Dominion University from 1998 to 2001, where, as a midfielder, he started 72 games, scoring 11 goals and 25 assists.

Professional

Upon graduating, Mendes joined the Long Island Rough Riders of the USL Pro Soccer League, who converted him into a defender. After playing for the Rough Riders in 2002 and winning the PDL title while scoring the equalizer in the Championship game against the Wilmington Hammerheads in N.C., Mendes moved up a division to play for the Rochester Raging Rhinos, where he became a consistent starter for the next two seasons.

Mendes signed with the MetroStars before the start of the 2005 season, and surprised by becoming a starter in central defense, filling the position formerly held by Eddie Pope. During the 2006 MLS campaign Mendes started every game on the season but one, which was due to caution point accumulation. For his efforts, he was voted team Defender of the Year by members of the soccer media.

Mendes continued his solid play anchoring the clubs backline during the early part of the 2007 season with New York Red Bulls. However he fell out of favor with coach Bruce Arena and was in and out of the lineup during the latter part of the season. He concluded the campaign appearing in 23 matches (19 starts), his lowest totals since joining the club. For the 2008 season Mendes was converted into a defensive midfielder and appeared in 17 regular season matches. He returned to central defense in the MLS Playoffs starting in the clubs 1-0 victory over Real Salt Lake, helping the club reach its first ever MLS Cup Final. 2009 was an injury plagued season for Mendes as he was limited to 12 league appearances. Mendes began the 2010 season recuperating from his injury problems, once fully fit he replaced Mike Petke as Hans Backe's first choice center back pairing with first year player Tim Ream. On October 21, 2010 Mendes helped Red Bulls record its 13th clean sheet of the season in a 2-0 victory over New England Revolution which clinched the regular season Eastern Conference title.

On March 26, 2011, Mendes became the sixth New York player to hit 10,000 MLS minutes played for the club. By season's end he had moved into second place on the all-time franchise list in games played, games started, and minutes played.

On November 30, 2011, the Red Bulls declined the 2012 option on Mendes's contract, making him eligible for the 2011 MLS Re-Entry Draft. On December 5th 2011 Mendes was selected by the Columbus Crew in stage 1 of the MLS Re-Entry Draft. The Crew immediately picked up his option.

Career statistics

Updated 25 September 2011

All-time MLS club performance

Club	Season	Major League Soccer		US Open Cup		MLS Cup		CONCACAF		Total
		App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
New York Red Bulls	2005	24	0	1	0	2	0	-	-	27	0
	2006	31	0	2	0	2	0	-	-	35	0
	2007	23	0	1	0	-	-	-	-	24	0
	2008	17	0	1	0	3	0	-	-	21	0
	2009	12	0	1	0	-	-	-	-	13	0
	2010	21	0	3	0	2	0	-	-	26	0
	2011	18	0	0	0	2	0	-	-	20	0
	Total	146	0	9	0	11	0	-	-	166	0

Honors

New York Red Bulls

• Major League Soccer Western Conference Championship (1): 2008

See also

• List of current MLS players

External links

• MLS player profile
• transfermarkt.co.uk