Pedro Mendes: Scotland is full of talented players

[disgruntled_bear 157]

Mendes has enjoyed an excellent start to his Rangers career and is enjoying life in Scotland. He became an instant hero with Rangers fans by netting on his Old Firm debut.

The scoring of a goal for Rangers versus Celtic (and vice-versa) in the Glasgow derby brings with it a lifelong form of adulation and hero worship. Children have even been named after goalscorers in this fixture. Oleg Kuznetsov Singh, the son of a well known Glasgow Indian restaurateur, can testify to that.

A real calming presence in the sheer bedlam of a Glasgow derby, Rangers were already 2-1 up when Mendes took a pass from a short corner kick 30 yards from goal. Slightly to the edge of the penalty area, one touch was all that was needed to send a fizzing drive into the bottom corner of the Celtic net. To the tune of Pigbag’s ‘Papa’s got a brand new bag’, ‘doo-doo-doo-doo, Pedro Mendes’ rang out from the ensemble of supporters at the Rangers End. The Rangers fans had a brand new hero.

“So far it has been good,” says the Portuguese midfielder. “Obviously it took a bit of time to settle into a new country and a new club, but everyone in the club helped me and my family to settle as soon as possible.” If off the pitch the move from the south of England to the west of Scotland went fairly smoothly, on the field Mendes made an excellent first impression. Aside from the wonder strike at Celtic Park, some assured performances earned him the Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League’s player of the month award for August.

Spectacular strike

Always a consistent midfield performer, Mendes’ only other goal in a royal blue shirt so far came at Firhill, versus Partick Thistle. True to form, he still doesn’t do tap-ins. In a tricky League Cup tie, and with the score at 1-1 in extra-time, Mendes sent an exquisite outside-of-the-right-foot shot into the top corner from the edge of the penalty area. A goal fit to win any game, it kept Rangers on track for a potential domestic treble – something Mendes says Rangers have the capability to win.

With a semi-final place in the League Cup already obtained, it is the league position that needs the most immediate work. “We’re second place at the minute, and we want to be first place. But there’s still a long way to go.”

The next Old Firm game on Saturday, December 27 is one where he and the club will look to reduce the current four point gap. Further ahead though, the former Porto man is looking to get back to playing on the European stage again. With all the Scottish teams tumbling out of European tournaments before Christmas, and the national team struggling to reach South Africa in 2010, the Scottish football scene has nearly matched the current economic climate in terms of gloom, doom and despair. Mendes, however, urges the Scottish game not to fret so much.

“This league (SPL) is very competitive. It’s very tough. It’s similar to English football. Scottish football is very aggressive with a lot of teams fighting for points and to get results.” Mendes is also a big fan of the talent on display in Scottish football and wishes people in Scotland were not so negative about the standard of player in the country. “There’s a number of teams with good players, good young players. I’ve already played against all the teams in Scotland and I can see there are big talents here in Scotland.”

Great Scots

I’m very pleasantly surprised by the answer he gives to my next question, about whether there are any Scottish players good enough, and most importantly technically good enough, to play in the Liga Sagres.

Mendes emphatically says: “Oh, well, there are a lot of players, a lot of players, that could play in Portugal, or wherever, in other leagues. Sometimes it is very difficult to play against players, who you might say, are not so gifted technically or don’t have good technique.

“But they have very high work-rate and it is difficult to play against those types of players - harder than super, talented players but who have a lower work-rate. What I can say to you, is that there are a lot of good players here who could play in other leagues.”

http://www.portugoal.net/PortAbroad0809/20...w2-Scotland.htm

[Thermopylae 15,287]

He looks like a hippy so what's he been smoking

[barrymorrison1 1,033]

yawn yawn, nother one who gives it "yeah it harder than u think in scotland"

all the previous jonny foreigners that have said that, r now playing elsewhere.

eg, cousin cueller, boogie next maybe with ur man mendes getting dropped of by boogie in london on his way to marseilles.

[outlaw69uk 123]

Mendes has enjoyed an excellent start to his Rangers career and is enjoying life in Scotland. He became an instant hero with Rangers fans by netting on his Old Firm debut.

The scoring of a goal for Rangers versus Celtic (and vice-versa) in the Glasgow derby brings with it a lifelong form of adulation and hero worship. Children have even been named after goalscorers in this fixture. Oleg Kuznetsov Singh, the son of a well known Glasgow Indian restaurateur, can testify to that.

A real calming presence in the sheer bedlam of a Glasgow derby, Rangers were already 2-1 up when Mendes took a pass from a short corner kick 30 yards from goal. Slightly to the edge of the penalty area, one touch was all that was needed to send a fizzing drive into the bottom corner of the Celtic net. To the tune of Pigbag’s ‘Papa’s got a brand new bag’, ‘doo-doo-doo-doo, Pedro Mendes’ rang out from the ensemble of supporters at the Rangers End. The Rangers fans had a brand new hero.

“So far it has been good,” says the Portuguese midfielder. “Obviously it took a bit of time to settle into a new country and a new club, but everyone in the club helped me and my family to settle as soon as possible.” If off the pitch the move from the south of England to the west of Scotland went fairly smoothly, on the field Mendes made an excellent first impression. Aside from the wonder strike at Celtic Park, some assured performances earned him the Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League’s player of the month award for August.

Spectacular strike

Always a consistent midfield performer, Mendes’ only other goal in a royal blue shirt so far came at Firhill, versus Partick Thistle. True to form, he still doesn’t do tap-ins. In a tricky League Cup tie, and with the score at 1-1 in extra-time, Mendes sent an exquisite outside-of-the-right-foot shot into the top corner from the edge of the penalty area. A goal fit to win any game, it kept Rangers on track for a potential domestic treble – something Mendes says Rangers have the capability to win.

With a semi-final place in the League Cup already obtained, it is the league position that needs the most immediate work. “We’re second place at the minute, and we want to be first place. But there’s still a long way to go.”

The next Old Firm game on Saturday, December 27 is one where he and the club will look to reduce the current four point gap. Further ahead though, the former Porto man is looking to get back to playing on the European stage again. With all the Scottish teams tumbling out of European tournaments before Christmas, and the national team struggling to reach South Africa in 2010, the Scottish football scene has nearly matched the current economic climate in terms of gloom, doom and despair. Mendes, however, urges the Scottish game not to fret so much.

“This league (SPL) is very competitive. It’s very tough. It’s similar to English football. Scottish football is very aggressive with a lot of teams fighting for points and to get results.” Mendes is also a big fan of the talent on display in Scottish football and wishes people in Scotland were not so negative about the standard of player in the country. “There’s a number of teams with good players, good young players. I’ve already played against all the teams in Scotland and I can see there are big talents here in Scotland.”

Great Scots

I’m very pleasantly surprised by the answer he gives to my next question, about whether there are any Scottish players good enough, and most importantly technically good enough, to play in the Liga Sagres.

Mendes emphatically says: “Oh, well, there are a lot of players, a lot of players, that could play in Portugal, or wherever, in other leagues. Sometimes it is very difficult to play against players, who you might say, are not so gifted technically or don’t have good technique.

“But they have very high work-rate and it is difficult to play against those types of players - harder than super, talented players but who have a lower work-rate. What I can say to you, is that there are a lot of good players here who could play in other leagues.”

http://www.portugoal.net/PortAbroad0809/20...w2-Scotland.htm

Oh that will get some peoples backs up on here, when, the concensus is they are all poor haha

[macleod1873 0]

yawn yawn, nother one who gives it "yeah it harder than u think in scotland"

all the previous jonny foreigners that have said that, r now playing elsewhere.

eg, cousin cueller, boogie next maybe with ur man mendes getting dropped of by boogie in london on his way to marseilles.

Spot on about Boogie

[Amac9 2,060]

Surely he is not talking about McCulloch, Adam, Dailly etc?

[barrymorrison1 1,033]

no he means arron, fleck, and loy.