Mario Méndez Olagüe (born 1 June 1979) is a Mexican former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Career

Mario Méndez started his career with

Club Atlas Atlas Fútbol Club () is a Mexican professional football club based in Guadalajara, Jalisco that currently plays in Liga MX. It plays home matches at the Estadio Jalisco. Founded in 1916, Atlas has won three league titles and four domestic cups ...

in the year 1998, in the golden age that included many (at the time, promising) players like

Rafael Márquez Rafael Márquez Álvarez (; born 13 February 1979) is a Mexican former professional footballer and current head coach of Spanish team Barcelona Atlètic. Nicknamed '' El Káiser'', he is regarded as the best defender in Mexico's history and o ...

, Daniel Osorno,

Juan Pablo Rodriguez ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

and

Miguel Zepeda Miguel Ángel Zepeda Espinoza (born 25 May 1976) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Career Zepeda made his professional debut on November 13, 1996 in 2-2 draw against Chivas. He has played most of his ca ...

. With Atlas he got a sub-championship in the year of 1999 having been a vital part in the defense. He stayed with this club until 2004. In 2004 Mario Mendéz was bought by

Deportivo Toluca F.C. Deportivo Toluca Fútbol Club S.A. de C.V. (), commonly known as Club Deportivo Toluca, is a Mexican football club, playing in the Primera División de México, the top-flight of Mexican football. Toluca's stadium, Estadio Nemesio Díez Riega ...

, where he was an important player in the squad playing 49 games and scoring one goal. Later on Méndez was sent to Monterrey to play for the Rayados of Monterrey. Unfortunately, he did not have much time on the field as he was on the

Mexico national team The Mexico national football team () represents Mexico in international football and is governed by the Mexican Football Federation (). It competes as a member of CONCACAF. Mexico has qualified to seventeen World Cups and has qualified conse ...

() in the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup. Later that year he was transferred to Tigres on 29 May 2006. He previously played for Tigres arch-rival Rayados of Monterrey, but was playing there only on loan, and was signed with Club Toluca who negotiated the transference with Tigres. He was called up to the Mexico national team to participate in the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

. He started for Mexico's first two games against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

and later, in the Elimination Round of 16 against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. In the game against Iran he made an assist in the goal of Zihna. Although he had been criticized for his occasional careless plays and teamwork abilities on the national team, he continuesd to be one of Mexico's important talented players. During the Winter Transfer period,

Ricardo Lavolpe Ricardo Antonio La Volpe Guarchoni (; born 6 February 1952) is an Argentine former professional footballer and manager. He is a World Cup-winning goalkeeper who played for most of his career in Argentina and Mexico. As a coach, La Volpe was in ...

, head coach of the Argentinen Vélez Sársfield, called on the talents of Mario Méndez for Vélez Sársfield After Lavolpe's resignation as coach Mendez returned to Mexico, joining Club Toluca. During the Hugo Sanchez era, Mendez was not called up for Mexico. Méndez returned to the team under the new manager Sven-Göran Eriksson. He appeared in the September 2008 friendly match against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

(a 1–0 defeat), coming on as a substitute for Jaime Correa Córdoba. He was loaned out to CD Irapuato on 12 June 2011 after being transferred from Club Toluca. He retired in 2013.

Honours

Toluca * Mexican Primera División: Apertura 2008 Mexico *

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

: 2003

Career Statistics

International goals

References

External links

*
Football Database.com provides Mario Méndez's profile and stats
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mendez, Mario 1979 births Living people Mexico international footballers Mexico under-20 international footballers Footballers from Guadalajara, Jalisco CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2004 Copa América players 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players Liga MX players Argentine Primera División players Atlas F.C. footballers Deportivo Toluca F.C. players C.F. Monterrey players Tigres UANL footballers Irapuato F.C. footballers Mexican expatriate footballers Mexican footballers Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Expatriate footballers in Argentina Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield footballers Association football defenders