Gaizka Mendieta
Mendieta in 1995
|
|||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gaizka Mendieta Zabala | ||
| Date of birth | 27 March 1974 | ||
| 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) |
| 1992 | Castellón | 16 | (0) |
| 1992–1994 | Valencia B | 34 | (4) |
| 1993–2001 | Valencia | 230 | (44) |
| 2001–2004 | Lazio | 20 | (0) |
| 2002–2003 | → Barcelona (loan) | 33 | (4) |
| 2003–2004 | → Middlesbrough (loan) | 31 | (2) |
| 2004–2008 | Middlesbrough | 31 | (2) |
| Total | 395 | (56) | |
| 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. |
|||
Gaizka Mendieta Zabala (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈgaiθka menˈdjeta θaˈβala], Basque: [gais̻ka mendieta s̻aβala]; born 27 March 1974) is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a midfielder.
Versatile, with good offensive and tackling skills and also being capable of creating goals for teammates and himself, he played mainly for Valencia, and finished his career at Middlesbrough of England. Over the course of ten seasons he amassed La Liga totals of 263 games and 48 goals.
Mendieta played 40 times with the Spanish national team, appearing with it in one World Cup and one European Championship.
Born in Bilbao, Basque Country, Mendieta made his professional debut at just 17 with CD Castellón, in Segunda División. After just one season he moved to La Liga after signing with Valencia CF, but spent the vast majority of his first year with the reserves, making his first team debut on 13 June 1993; he played 34 of 42 games during the 1995–96 season as the side finished runners-up, its best result since 1990.
The 1997–98 campaign was Mendieta's breakthrough season, under new manager Claudio Ranieri. He played 30 league matches and scored ten goals, soon making his debut for the national team. In June 1999 he won his first trophy with Valencia, beating Atlético Madrid in the Copa del Rey.
...
Wikipedia