Tiago Mendes

Tiago Cardoso Mendes (Portuguese pronunciation: [tiˈaɡu], born 2 May 1981 in Viana do Castelo), commonly known as just Tiago, is a Portuguese professional footballer who currently plays for Atlético Madrid on loan from Juventus.

A versatile midfielder, adept as both a central or defensive unit and with good overall skills, he played professionally in four of Europe's major leagues: England, France, Italy and Spain.

Club career

Portugal

Tiago first came to prominence at Sporting de Braga, being cast into the Minho side's starting XI at the age of just 19, and helping with 27 games as it finished in 4th place in 2001, thus qualifying for the UEFA Cup.

In late December 2001, solid displays earned Tiago – and Braga teammates Armando Sá and Ricardo Rocha – a move to league giants Sport Lisboa e Benfica; in his first full season, he scored a career-best 13 goals, helping the Reds finish second in the league and, the following year, helped deny F.C. Porto a historic treble by winning the domestic cup.

Chelsea

Tiago signed for Chelsea on 20 July 2004, for a €15 million fee,^[1] becoming José Mourinho's sixth signing that season (this included three other Portuguese players). Having missed the first game of Chelsea's 2004–05 campaign, he soon became an important member of his new team's squad, scoring on his away debut against Crystal Palace, on 24 August.^[2] He also scored a long-range goal in Chelsea's 3–1 win over Manchester United on 10 May 2005, after already having won the Premier League title.^[3]

Tiago was a regular for Chelsea that season, having only missed four games in the league. He ended the season successfully as a firm fixture in the Blues' midfield three, having made 51 appearances in all competitions and scoring four goals, as the club also added the season's Football League Cup. However, despite his initial success, the following season saw the arrival of Ghanaian Michael Essien in August 2005 from Olympique Lyonnais, which limited his first-team chances.

Lyon

The next season, he signed for Essien's former club on a four-year deal, for a €10.1 million transfer fee.^[4][5] Mourinho later confessed in an interview that letting Tiago go was "a big mistake."^[6]

Usually playing in a defensive midfield role alongside Juninho Pernambucano, Mahamadou Diarra and Florent Malouda, Tiago excelled for Lyon, scoring seven goals in 37 appearances. The highlights of his first season in France were a pair of goals against PSV Eindhoven that took Lyon into the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, and the winning goal against Troyes AC on 1 April 2006. Lyon finished top of Ligue 1, winning a fifth consecutive accolade.

After the departure of Diarra to Real Madrid the following season, Tiago began to play a more significant role in Lyon's midfield with Diarra's replacement, Jérémy Toulalan. He won his second league title, and helped L'OL to the domestic league cup final, where it lost to Girondins de Bordeaux after a last minute strike. Tiago scored six goals in 40 appearances in his second season with the club.

Juventus

On 17 June 2007, Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas confirmed that Tiago's departure from Lyon was imminent with both Juventus F.C. and A.C. Milan reportedly after his signature. He officially signed for Juventus on 21 June 2007, for a €13 million fee.^[7] However, his performance in the 2007–08 season was criticised, Goal.com describing him as the third biggest flop of the season.^[8]

The start of 2008–09 season gave Tiago an opportunity to return to the Premier League in the form of year long loan offer from Everton. Juventus agreed to the deal but Tiago refused their terms, favouring to stay in Italy instead.^[9] The negotiations between the player and the club had a violent end when Tiago forcibly locked Juventus president Giovanni Cobolli Gigli inside a toilet stall – the chairman was finally rescued by captain Alessandro Del Piero, more than an hour later.^[10] After a difficult first season, he eventually established himself in Claudio Ranieri's team. In November 2008, against F.C. Internazionale Milano, he was stretchered off the pitch with a serious knee injury just several minutes into the match, and was sidelined for almost two months.

Tiago returned to the bench for the January match against S.S. Lazio, but found himself down the pecking order as Cristiano Zanetti or Mohamed Sissoko and emerging youngster Claudio Marchisio were Ranieri's preferred centre midfield pairing. Following injuries to Sissoko and later Marchisio, he was back in the starting eleven but his return was soured by a straight red card in the Derby d'Italia fixture in April (1–1 home draw).

The first half of the 2009–10 season was one to forget for Tiago. With the arrivals of midfielders Diego and Felipe Melo, coupled by his slight dip in form, his appearances were again limited. Under Ciro Ferrara, he was relegated to the bench once again, only making seven Serie A appearances.

On 8 January 2010, Tiago joined Atlético Madrid on loan until the end of the season.^[11] He scored his first league goal in nearly three years on 21 January, heading home against Celta de Vigo in a 1–1 home draw, for the season's Copa del Rey (2–1 aggregate win); gradually, he established himself in the starting lineup ahead of longtime incumbent Raúl García, also reuniting with former Benfica teammate Simão Sabrosa.

International career

Tiago's performances in Portugal's youth teams eventually earned him his senior debut against Scotland, in a November 2002 friendly. He went on to seal a regular berth in the squad and was included in the 23-man squad for UEFA Euro 2004, although he did not play for Portugal in the final of the tournament.

Moving to France proved crucial in international selection as Tiago’s strong form at Lyon afforded him a place in Portugal's well-established midfield. His contributions to the team aided the national team in its quest for qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and he played five matches in the tournament held in Germany. Portugal reached the semi-finals, losing to France.

Tiago scored his first goal for the national team in March 2007, in a Man of the match display away to Serbia (1–1). He was, however, overlooked, for Euro 2008's final squad.

Tiago was selected for the squad at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, replacing Deco in the first match, a 0–0 against Ivory Coast. He took the naturalized Brazilian's place for the following game, against North Korea in Cape Town, on June 21, 2010, and scored twice (once with his head) in a 7–0 rout.

International goals

Tiago: International Goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	28 March 2007	Belgrade, Serbia	Serbia	0–1	1–1	Euro 2008 qualifying
2.	21 June 2010	Cape Town, South Africa	Korea DPR	4–0	7–0	2010 FIFA World Cup
3.	21 June 2010	Cape Town, South Africa	Korea DPR	7–0	7–0	2010 FIFA World Cup

Club statistics

Honours

Club

• Benfica:
  • Portuguese Cup: 2003–04

• Chelsea:
  • Premier League: 2004–05
  • Football League Cup: 2004–05
  • FA Community Shield: 2005

• Lyon:
  • French League: 2005–06, 2006–07
  • French Supercup: 2005, 2006
  • French League Cup: Runner-up 2006–07

• Atlético Madrid:
  • Spanish Cup: Runner-up 2009–10

Country

• UEFA European Football Championship: Runner-up 2004

Orders

• Medal of Merit, Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa (House of Braganza)^[12]

References

External links

• Stats and profile at Zerozero
• Stats at ForaDeJogo (Portuguese)
• PortuGOAL profile
• Tiago Mendes career stats at Soccerbase
• BDFutbol profile
• Tiago Mendes at National-Football-Teams.com
• FootballDatabase profile and stats
• GOAL.com profile

Portugal squads Portugal squad – UEFA Euro 2004 Runners-up 1 Ricardo • 2 Ferreira • 3 Rui Jorge • 4 Andrade • 5 F. Couto (c) • 6 Costinha • 7 Figo • 8 Petit • 9 Pauleta • 10 Rui Costa • 11 Simão • 12 Quim • 13 Miguel • 14 N. Valente • 15 Beto • 16 Carvalho • 17 C. Ronaldo • 18 Maniche • 19 Tiago • 20 Deco • 21 Nuno Gomes • 22 Moreira • 23 H. Postiga • Coach: Scolari Portugal squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup Fourth Place 1 Ricardo • 2 Ferreira • 3 Caneira • 4 Costa • 5 Meira • 6 Costinha • 7 Figo (c) • 8 Petit • 9 Pauleta • 10 H. Viana • 11 Simão • 12 Quim • 13 Miguel • 14 N. Valente • 15 Boa Morte • 16 Carvalho • 17 C. Ronaldo • 18 Maniche • 19 Tiago • 20 Deco • 21 Nuno Gomes • 22 Santos • 23 H. Postiga • Coach: Scolari Portugal squad – 2010 FIFA World Cup 1 Eduardo • 2 Bruno Alves • 3 Ferreira • 4 Rolando • 5 Duda • 6 Carvalho • 7 C. Ronaldo (c) • 8 P. Mendes • 9 Liédson • 10 Danny • 11 Simão • 12 Beto • 13 Miguel • 14 Veloso • 15 Pepe • 16 Meireles • 17 Amorim • 18 H. Almeida • 19 Tiago • 20 Deco • 21 Costa • 22 D. Fernandes • 23 Coentrão • Coach: Queiroz