Pedro Mendes (footballer, born 1979)

Pedro Mendes

Personal information
Full name	Pedro Miguel da Silva Mendes
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Rangers
Number	30
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15:06, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Pedro Miguel da Silva Mendes (pron. IPA: ['peðɾu 'mẽðɨʃ]; born 26 February 1979 in Guimarães), commonly known as Pedro Mendes, is a Portuguese footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for Rangers.

Club career

Early career

He started his professional career with FC Felgueiras, by an one year loan of Vitória Guimarães,when he stayed for four seasons before moving to FC Porto, where he won the Champions League. Mendes shows a huge love for his youth club, Vitória Guimarães, and that can be seen in the FA Cup Final, when he was wearing a Vitória Guimarães scarf.

Tottenham Hotspur

In the summer of 2004, Mendes moved to England to play for Tottenham Hotspur. During his first season at Tottenham, in January 2005, he was the victim of a controversial and key decision against Manchester United. His speculative shot from 50 yards should have been a relatively easy catch for Roy Carroll, but the Manchester United goalkeeper fumbled the ball into his own goal. What would have been the game's only goal was not given, as the referee deemed the ball not to have crossed the line, but TV replays showed the ball had clearly gone at least a foot over the line.

The 2005–06 season saw Mendes reduced to a peripheral role at Tottenham. In the January 2006 transfer window, Tottenham coach Martin Jol offloaded Mendes to fellow Premiership club Portsmouth.

Portsmouth

Since joining Portsmouth, Mendes has been a regular starter and had been a pivotal player and goal scorer in their fight to avoid relegation. He seemingly assured his place in Portsmouth folklore by scoring both goals in a crucial match against Manchester City, the second coming in the 93rd minute from 25 yards out. The result gave his team a 2–1 win and a springboard which eventually led them to survival in the Premiership.

On 23 August 2006, during a match against Manchester City, Mendes was elbowed in the face by Manchester City player Ben Thatcher who received a yellow card. He was knocked unconscious, required oxygen at pitchside and suffered a seizure while being transferred to hospital, where he spent the night. Mendes was discharged from hospital the next day, but remained under medical supervision. He has since said "It is the worst thing to have ever happened to me in my career." Despite the severity of the incident, Mendes was back playing for Portsmouth two weeks after. In the return game at Fratton Park Pedro was again on the receiving end of a violent tackle from Joey Barton after scoring a trademark 'wonder' goal against City.

After being a regular in the first two seasons at Portsmouth, Mendes has recently been reduced to a peripheral figure, with Lassana Diarra, Papa Bouba Diop and Sulley Muntari being the first choice central midfield combination. He is currently still at Portsmouth where he has thus acquired the nick name 'The man with the big heart' due to his phenomenal performances and style of play, and he won the FA Cup with the club on 17 May 2008 with a 1-0 victory over Cardiff City.

Rangers

On 15 August 2008, Mendes flew into Glasgow to have a medical & discuss personal terms before completing a £3 million deal to join Scottish giants Rangers..Mendes has Signed a 3 year deal to join Rangers. He is reportedly the clubs highest earner on 2.50 GBP per week.

International career

Mendes made his debut for Portugal on 20 November 2002, a 2–0 friendly win over Scotland.

External links

• Pedro Mendes at Soccerbase
• Pedro Mendes profile at bbc.co.uk