Mendieta’s illustrious career started with Valencia and he went on to play for Lazio in Italy, Barcelona and Middlesbrough. Now the ex-midfielder is a TV pundit for Sky Sports and also works for La Liga as an ambassador.
“People say La Liga is dominated by Real Madrid and Barcelona but name me one country that has more than two or three teams? It’s very rare,” Mendieta tells this website.
“Look at the last 10 years, in Italy there’s Juventus and Inter Milan – those teams who have been dominating. In Germany you have Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, there’s no one else. In England it’s Manchester United and Chelsea and recently Manchester City. There’s no one else. It’s an unconscious assumption that in Spain we are dominated by two clubs. It happens everywhere and it’s only now and then where a third club breaks through. All the leagues have two or three teams that win the title.”
During Mendieta’s career, Spain reached the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup with the former player scoring his last international goal against Bafana Bafana.
“I still remember that… it’s a memorable goal and recently I saw Andre Arendse and reminded him (laughing).”
After a disappointing 2014 World Cup in Brazil Mendieta believes his countrymen are more than capable of defending the European Championship trophy they won four years ago.
“The current team can defend Euro,” adds Mendieta. “This team is good and they know how to win big tournaments.”