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Pedro Mendes (footballer, born 1979)

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Pedro Mendes
Personal information
Full name Pedro Miguel da Silva Mendes
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Central midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Rangers
Number 4
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 8 September, 2008

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

Club career

Early career

He started his professional career with FC Felgueiras, on an one year loan from Vitória Guimarães. He returned to Guimarães and stayed for four seasons before moving on to FC Porto. In Oporto he won the Champions League, Portuguese Liga and the Portuguese Super Cup under manager Jose Mourinho.

Tottenham Hotspur

In July 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.[1]

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

Mendes joined Portsmouth on January 2006 in a combined deal that included Sean Davis and Noé Pamarot, for a fee of £7.5 million.[2] He became 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.[3] He has since said "It is the worst thing to have ever happened to me in my career."[4] 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 was reduced to a peripheral figure, with Lassana Diarra, Papa Bouba Diop and Sulley Muntari being the first choice central midfield combination. But he regained his place and won the FA Cup with the club on 17 May 2008, playing in the 1-0 final victory over Cardiff City.[5]

Rangers

On 15 August 2008 Mendes completed a £3 million transfer to Rangers, signing a three year deal.[6] He made his debut a day later, starting and winning the man of the match award in the 2-0 SPL win over Hearts.[7] He scored his first goal in the first Old Firm match of the season on 31 August 2008. Mendes netted the third goal of the match when he received the ball from a Steven Davis corner and drilled it from 30 yards into the Celtic goal.[8]

International career

Mendes made his debut for Portugal as a 57th minute substitute for Rui Costa on 20 November 2002, during a 2–0 friendly win over Scotland. His second cap came on 12 February 2003 during a 1-0 defeat to Italy.[9] Mendes looks set to return to the national team however, after earning a surprise recall on 27 August 2008.[10]

Honours

With FC Porto

Template:Sport honours Template:Sport honours Template:Sport honours

With Portsmouth

Template:Sport honours

References

  1. ^ "The Pedro Mendes goal that wasn't given" BBC Sport website (5 January, 2005)
  2. ^ "Portsmouth swoop for Spurs trio" BBC Sport website (12 January, 2006)
  3. ^ James Ducker (2006-08-24). "Thatcher could face police investigation". Times Online. Times Newspapers Ltd.
  4. ^ "Mendes considered quitting game". BBC Sport website. 2006-09-07.
  5. ^ "Portsmouth 1-0 Cardiff". BBC Sport website. 17 May, 2008. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ "Rangers confirm capture of Mendes". BBC Sport website. 15 August, 2008. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ "Rangers 2-0 Hearts". BBC Sport website. 16 August, 2008. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ "Celtic 2-4 Rangers" BBC Sport website (31 August 2008)
  9. ^ Italy 1-0 Portugal Soccerbase (12 February, 2003)
  10. ^ On the Mendes Rangers Official website (27 August, 2008)

External links

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