Mendieta – from top of the world to riverside

As the cream of Europe do battle once more this week, a man who twice inspired his team to the Champions League final will be nothing more than an interested spectator.

In 2000 and 2001, unfashionable Valencia – driven forward by their brilliant midfield general Gaizka Mendieta – reached the final of the world’s premier club competition, only to suffer defeat both times.

Unfortunately for Mendieta, the defining moment of his career occurred 58 days after that second final – and it did not even take place on the football field.

That summer, aged 27, he was on top of the world – having shone on the European stage he had twice been named European midfielder of the season and was also a regular in the Spanish national side. He seemed destined for a career at the top of the game.

Then Mendieta’s world turned upside down. On 19 July, free-spending Italian giants Lazio handed Valencia a cheque for £29m to make him the most expensive Spanish player and sixth costliest footballer of all time.

Read the full article by Jonathan Steven here

“I haven’t thought about a return to football but it is one of those things where you can never say never.

“I love the game and everything to do with it and even if I can see how difficult it would be, a part of me can see the excitement and challenge of being a manager, definitely.”

Football may not have seen the last of Gaizka Mendieta.

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Posted by Bilal Sulehri on Nov 5 2009. Filed under Football, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry