Gaizka Mendieta Zabala (, ; born 27 March 1974) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. A versatile player, with good technique, offensive capabilities and tackling skills, who was capable of creating goals both for his teammates and himself, he played mainly for Valencia, and finished his career with Middlesbrough in England. Over the course of ten seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 263 games and 48 goals. Mendieta played 40 times for Spain, appearing for the country at Euro 2000 and the 2002 World Cup. Club career Valencia Born in Bilbao, Basque Country, Mendieta made his professional debut at just 17 with CD Castellón in the Segunda División, featuring mostly as a full-back. After just one season he moved to La Liga after signing with Valencia CF for 30 million pesetas, but spent the vast majority of his first year with the reserves, making his first-team debut on 13 June 1993 against Cádiz CF; he played 34 of 42 games during 1995–96 as the latter finished second, their best result since 1990. The 1997–98 campaign was Mendieta's breakthrough season, under new manager Claudio Ranieri. Moving to a central midfield role he played 30 league matches and scored ten goals, soon making his debut for the national team. In June 1999 he won his first trophy with the club, beating Atlético Madrid in the Copa del Rey; he found the net in wins over Levante UD, FC Barcelona (both legs) and Real Madrid during the run to the final, where he scored a memorable goal: controlling a cross on his chest, he flicked the ball over his own head and two defenders before turning to volley past the goalkeeper. Mendieta had an even better year in 1999–2000, with Héctor Cúper now as the coach. He helped Valencia to beat Barcelona 4–3 on aggregate to win the Supercopa de España, and netted a career-best 13 goals on the domestic front as the Che finished third. However, their biggest triumph of the season was to reach the final of the UEFA Champions League, a 3–0 loss to fellow Spaniards Real Madrid; later, he was awarded the "European Midfielder of the Season" award. Valencia reached the final of the Champions League in the following year and lost it again, this time to FC Bayern Munich after a penalty shootout. Mendieta scored an early penalty in normal time to