Gaizka Mendieta Zabala (born 27 March 1974 in Bilbao, Basque Country) is a former Spanish football player of Basque origin. He is a midfielder who played for the Spanish football club Valencia. He has played 40 games and scored 8 goals for the Spanish national football team, and represented Spain at the 1996 Summer Olympics, 2000 European Championship, and 2002 World Cup tournaments. He was a versatile and hard tackling midfielder also capable of...
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Gaizka Mendieta Zabala (born 27 March 1974 in Bilbao, Basque Country) is a former Spanish football player of Basque origin. He is a midfielder who played for the Spanish football club Valencia. He has played 40 games and scored 8 goals for the Spanish national football team, and represented Spain at the 1996 Summer Olympics, 2000 European Championship, and 2002 World Cup tournaments. He was a versatile and hard tackling midfielder also capable of creating goals as well as scoring a fair amount himself.
Mendieta started his club career with CD Castellón in 1991 and moved to Valencia CF in the top-flight La Liga championship a year later. He started his Valencia career in the reserve team, before making his first team debut on June 13, 1993. Mendieta played 34 of 42 games during the 1995-96 La Liga season, as Valencia finished runners-up, its best result since 1990. In the summer 1996, he was a part of the Spanish under-21 national team which ended runners-up at the 1996 European Under...
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