Gaizka Mendieta

Gaizka Mendieta

Personal information
Full name	Gaizka Mendieta
Date of birth	27 March 1974 (1974-03-27)
Place of birth	Bilbao, Spain
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth career
	Castellón
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1991–1992	Castellón	16	(0)
1992–2001	Valencia	231	(45)
2001–2004	Lazio	20	(0)
2002–2003	→ Barcelona (loan)	33	(4)
2003–2004	→ Middlesbrough (loan)	31	(2)
2004–2008	Middlesbrough	31	(2)
Total		362	(61)
National team
1991	Spain U18	5	(0)
1993	Spain U20	3	(0)
1992–1996	Spain U21	13	(0)
1996	Spain U23	2	(0)
1999–2002	Spain	40	(8)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Mendieta and the second or maternal family name is Zabala.

Gaizka Mendieta Zabala (born 27 March 1974) is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a midfielder.

Versatile, with good offensive and tackling skills, also being capable of creating goals for teammates and himself, he played mainly for Valencia CF, and finished his career at Middlesbrough of England.

He played 40 times with the Spanish national team, appearing with it in one World Cup and one European Championship.

Club career

Valencia

Born in Bilbao, Basque Country, Mendieta made his professional debuts at just 17 with CD Castellón, in the second division. After just one season, he moved to La Liga after signing with Valencia CF. He spent the vast majority of his first year with the reserves, making his first team debut on 13 June 1993. Mendieta played 34 of 42 games during the 1995–96 season as Valencia finished runners-up, its best result since 1990.

The 1997–98 season was Mendieta's breakthrough season, under new manager Claudio Ranieri. He played in 30 of 38 games, scoring 10 goals, and soon made his debut for the national team. In June 1999, he won his first trophy with Valencia, beating Atlético Madrid in the Copa del Rey.

Under new manager Héctor Cúper, Mendieta had an even better year in 1999–2000. He helped Valencia beat FC Barcelona 4–3 on aggregate to win the Spanish Supercup, and scored a career-best 13 goals, as the Che finished third. However, the biggest triumph of the season was helping Valencia reach the final of the season's UEFA Champions League, a 0–3 loss to fellow league side Real Madrid; later, he was awarded the "European Midfielder of the Season" award.

Valencia reached the final of the Champions League in the following year and lost it again, now to FC Bayern Munich after a penalty shootout. Mendieta scored a penalty in normal time (1–1) and also converted his attempt in the shootout, being again named "UEFA Best Midfielder of the Year".

Moving abroad

Mendieta was one of the most sought-after players in the 2001 off-season, eventually earning a €48 million transfer to Italian club S.S. Lazio, being at the time the sixth most expensive player of all time. However, he disappointed in Serie A, spending only one year with the Rome club, while failing to match the performances of departed playmakers Juan Sebastián Verón and Pavel Nedvěd.

Mendieta was loaned to FC Barcelona for the 2002–03 season – he started most of the year, but the Catalans could only rank sixth – and subsequently to Middlesbrough.

Middlesbrough

In his first season at Middlesbrough, Mendieta was part of the team that won the Football League Cup, bringing the Teesside club its first ever silverware. At the end of the season, the move was made permanent.

In his last two years at Middlesbrough, a string of injuries and long duration of regaining match fitness relegated Mendieta to the substitutes bench. He fell out of favour with manager Gareth Southgate, who made it clear that the player no longer featured in his first team plans. Reports suggested that Real Sociedad, Athletic Bilbao and Málaga CF were interesting in purchasing the midfielder in the January 2007 transfer window, however no concrete agreement was ever made. The summer transfer window passed amid speculation that Mendieta was set for a move to Los Angeles Galaxy; however, towards the end of the deadline, he was quoted to have said that he would fight for his place at Middlesbrough. A day later, Boro's chief executive Keith Lamb disregarded Mendieta's comments saying that there was "no chance" of Mendieta entering the first team. He played his last game on 26 December 2006, against Everton.

On 5 December 2007, according to a Spanish newspaper, Mendieta announced his retirement from professional football when his Middlesbrough contract expired at the end of the 2007–08 season, He was finally released by Middlesbrough on 13 May 2008, ending a successful 17-year professional career.

On 3 November 2009, Mendieta was quoted as saying a part of him would be interested in football management when interviewed by the BBC. He said: "A part of me can see the excitement and challenge of being a manager, definitely." After retiring, he settled with his family near Middlesbrough, in Yarm.

International career

In the summer of 1996, Mendieta was part of the Spanish under-21 national team which were runners-up in the UEFA European Championship.

He made his senior side debut on 27 March 1999, replacing Juan Carlos Valerón in a 9–0 thrashing of Austria, for UEFA Euro 2000's qualifying stages; he was included in the list of 23 for the competition in Belgium and the Netherlands, helping the national side reach the last eight.

Despite his form slump at Lazio, Mendieta was picked for the squad at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, scoring one goal in three matches for the eventual quarterfinalists, against South Africa (3–2 win). The last of his 40 caps was gained in a friendly with Bulgaria in Granada, four months after the World Cup.

Statistics

Club

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Spain			League		Copa del Rey		Copa de la Liga		Europe		Total
1991–92	Castellón	Segunda División	16	0
1992–93	Valencia	La Liga	2	0
1993–94			20	2
1994–95			13	1
1995–96			34	0
1996–97			30	1
1997–98			30	10
1998–99			38	7
1999–00			33	13					9	5	42	18
2000–01			31	11					13	2	44	13
Italy			League		Coppa Italia		League Cup		Europe		Total
2001–02	Lazio	Serie A	20	0					7	0	27	0
Spain			League		Copa del Rey		Copa de la Liga		Europe		Total
2002–03	Barcelona	La Liga	33	4					13	1	46	5
England			League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
2003–04	Middlesbrough	Premier League	31	2	1	0	6	1	0	0	38	3
2004–05			7	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	8	0
2005–06			17	2	6	1	0	0	6	0	29	3
2006–07			7	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	8	0
Country	Spain		280	49
	Italy		20	0
	England		62	4	7	1	7	1	7	0	73	6
Total			362	54

National team

Spain national team
Year	Apps	Goals
1999	9	1
2000	13	3
2001	8	3
2002	10	1
Total	40	8

International goals

Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	5 June 1999	Estadio El Madrigal, Villarreal	San Marino	9–0	9–0	Euro 2000 qualifying
2	7 June 2000	Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg	Luxembourg	1–0	1–0	Friendly
3	21 June 2000	Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges	Yugoslavia	3–3	4–3	Euro 2000
4	25 June 2000	Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges	France	1–1	1–2	Euro 2000
5	24 March 2001	Estadio José Rico Pérez, Alicante	Liechtenstein	4–0	5–0	2002 World Cup qualification
6	24 March 2001	Estadio José Rico Pérez, Alicante	Liechtenstein	5–0	5–0	2002 World Cup qualification
7	1 September 2001	Estadio Mestalla, Valencia	Austria	4–0	4–0	2002 World Cup qualification
8	12 June 2002	Daejeon World Cup Stadium, Daegu	South Africa	2–1	3–2	2002 World Cup

Honours

Team

Valencia

• Copa del Rey: 1998–99
• Supercopa de España: 1999
• UEFA Champions League: Runner-up 1999–00, 2000–01

Middlesbrough

• English League Cup: 2003–04

Spain U21

• European Football Championship: Runners-up 1996

Individual

• UEFA Champions League: Best Midfielder 1999–2000, 2000–01

External links

• BDFutbol profile
• National team data (Spanish)
• Gaizka Mendieta career stats at Soccerbase
• Gaizka Mendieta at National-Football-Teams.com
• Gaizka Mendieta – FIFA competition record

Awards
Preceded by David Beckham	UEFA Champions League Best Midfielder 1999-2000, 2000-01	Succeeded by Michael Ballack