19 May 2005, by Logan Holmes

Pedro Mendes – ‘the Pirate’

Promising first season at White Hart Lane

Pedro Mendes’ first season at Tottenham has seen the Portuguese midfielder become very popular with the fans, who have dubbed him ‘the Pirate’ due to his swarthy looks and ponytail.

It was a pleasant surprise for Spurs supporters when the club snapped up a member of Porto’s Champions League winning team out of the blue. The exchange for fellow countryman Postiga, who failed to make an impact in his season at White Hart Lane, was to prove good business.

Initially, some thought that Mendes would struggle to cope with the Premiership but while it took time to adjust to his new surroundings and new team, he played an important part in Spurs’ early season success. Mendes helped ensure that the Spurs defence, renowned for its frailties, was well protected and Spurs became a much more difficult team to beat.

Mendes continued to hold the central midfield position while Jacques Santini was in charge of the team, playing in all of the first fifteen League games, but when Martin Jol became head coach he moved Pedro Mendes to the right side of midfield as Spurs had no other suitable player for that position.

This situation continued through December when Spurs went on an impressive five-game winning run and were unbeaten for a total of eight League games. Mendes was substitute for two of those matches but made a significant contribution in many of them. The exciting 5-2 win against Everton on New Year’s Day saw Mendes cap an outstanding performance with his first goal for the club – a powerful and accurate strike from distance.

Wonder goal ruled out

The next game took Spurs to Old Trafford. Pedro Mendes and Michael Carrick controlled midfield to enable Spurs to come away with a well deserved point. In normal circumstances Spurs would have been delighted with that result, but in the 89th minute Mendes had his moment of glory snatched from him due to the incompetence of the assistant referee.

Striking the ball from near the half-way line, the high lob caused the United goalkeeper all sorts of problems, slipping out of his hands and clearly crossing a metre over the line before he could hook it out. Sky television flashed up the score-line Man Utd 0-1 Tottenham only for the referee to unbelievably wave play on. Everyone in the ground and watching on television knew that Mendes had scored, except for the two officials.

Mendes and all the Spurs players accepted the decision without undue furore but an injustice had been done and Pedro Mendes was robbed of becoming an instant Tottenham ‘folk-hero’.

Spurs’ form then suffered and Mendes missed a series of matches with niggling injuries and was substitute in others. However, in March he returned to the team and played an important part in helping Spurs win a difficult FA Cup game at Nottingham Forest, only to pick up another knock. The injury proved more serious than at first thought and he was out for the rest of the season.

Mendes looking forward to next season

Rumours have circulated that Mendes was dissatisfied with playing out of position and that he would be returning to Portugal in the summer. However, the official Spurs website today carried an interview where Mendes said he was looking forward to getting back to full fitness over the summer so that he will be ready for pre-season training.

The news will be welcomed by the White Hart Lane faithful as Pedro Mendes has become a firm fans’ favourite. Many believe he will play a big role in the future of Tottenham Hotspur.