SPORTS NEWS.

Mendes made his debut for Portugal as a 57th minute substitute for Rui Costa on 20 November 2002, during a 2–0 friendly win over Scotland. His second cap came on 12 February 2003 during a 1–0 defeat to Italy.[20] He earned a surprise recall to the Portugal set-up on 27 August 2008.[21] Mendes was given another surprise call up in October 2009, and started in the FIFA World Cup qualifier against Hungary, where he played the full match and set up the second goal in Portugal's 3–0 win


Pedro Miguel da Silva Mendes (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpeðɾu ˈmẽðɨʃ]; born 26 February 1979 in Guimarães) is a Portuguese footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for Sporting Clube de Portugal of the Portuguese first division .

Starting his career with home town club Vitória de Guimarães, Mendes won a UEFA Champions League medal with FC Porto in 2004. He moved to the Premier League, initially with Tottenham Hotspur, in 2004, where he famously scored a 50-yard goal against Manchester United, which was disallowed. He then moved to his second English club, Portsmouth, before a stint at Scottish Premier League side Rangers.

Mendes has been capped four times by the Portuguese national team. He earned a surprise recall to the Portugal set-up on 27 August 2008 to play against Denmark on 9 September 2008 and on 2 October 2009 for the qualifying games against Hungary on 10 October 2009 and Malta on 14 October.