What are the chances in your opinion to see Gaizka Mendieta as part of the EURO 2004 national team of Spain? I'm afraid that he won't be part of it personnaly!Since he plays for Middlesbrough,I don't think that he ever got called to the NT!He's gone out of favour since joining Lazio back in 2001 and seems that he doesn't feature in the plans of Inaki Saez for this summer!
Gaizka Mendieta was world class at Valencia but has fallen far far far from grace. He won't go because i do believe playing for a mid table team in England like Middlesbrough is next to impossible to gain selection. He needs to be playing in Spain or if outside with a big club.
Mendieta continues to play and sometimes as a starter in Middlesbrough despite his age,i think that mendieta has always been and underrated star.
he was pure class, sadly he didn't play his cards right and moved to italy. I wanna know who was the idiot that advised him on such move.
He wanted to go to Madrid, but Valencia refused to sell him there. He 'settled' for Lazio, so to speak.
He was injured about 5 weeks ago and has not played since then for Boro Viva Er Beti manque lopera! Er PIchi
ohh, that's fuked up! he would have fit Real Madrid nicely and valencia new that I guess. sad... very very sad.
He scored one of the best goals I've ever seen in a Copa del Rey match vs. Barcelona. Full volley from about 25 yards out off of a corner kick. Pure class. Top-shelf. He went to Lazio just as that ship started taking on water. As good as he was, when a team and a club is poisoned like Lazio was, his game was bound to suffer. Unfortunately, Mendieta couldn't get back to a decent club in Spain, probably because he was too expensive and the situation just wasn't right, so he ended up at Boro. Still, I gotta think his success was partly a result of the incredible alchemy that was that Valencia team from 1999-2001. They were a Pellegrino penalty away from the Champions League crown, and made the final two years in a row. While Mendieta deserves a lot of credit for their success, you gotta remember players like Kily Gonzalez and Piojo Lopez, and an incredibly tight defense and a midfield that controlled the ball and counter-attacked with amazing precision. Mendieta rode that success to his payday with Lazio, and unfortunately, to the demise of his promising career. I still wish him the best. When he's done with the EPL, he can sign with my 2nd division Malaga side (who will be bouncing back to Primera next year if they sack all the club management), or my MLS Colorado Rapids, who seem to have found a good player in Aitor Karanka, another player who was on the field during the Valencia-Real Madrid Champions League final. The Serie A is proving to be the place where La Liga players, especially Spaniards, go to die.
Murcia looking to sign Mendieta http://www.marca.com/edicion/marca/futbol/2a_division/murcia/es/desarrollo/720637.html