Jhegson Méndez
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Jhegson Sebastián Méndez Carabalí[1] | ||
Date of birth | 26 April 1997 | ||
Place of birth | Mira, Ecuador | ||
Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[2] | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Team information | |||
Current team |
Elche (on loan from São Paulo) | ||
Number | 3 | ||
Youth career | |||
2010–2011 | Norte América | ||
2011–2015 |
Independiente del Valle | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2015–2018 |
Independiente del Valle | 81 | (4) |
2015–2016 |
→ Cultural Leonesa (loan) | 1 | (0) |
2019–2022 | Orlando City | 72 | (1) |
2022 | Los Angeles FC | 9 | (0) |
2023– | São Paulo | 18 | (0) |
2024– | → Elche (loan) | 0 | (0) |
International career‡ | |||
2015 | Ecuador U17 | 4 | (0) |
2015–2017 | Ecuador U20 | 10 | (0) |
2018– | Ecuador | 36 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 1 February 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 28 March 2023 |
Jhegson Sebastián Méndez Carabalí (born 26 April 1997) is an Ecuadorian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Segunda División club Elche, on loan from Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club São Paulo, and the Ecuador national team.[3]
Club career
Independiente del Valle
Méndez joined the
Orlando City
On 28 December 2018, Méndez signed to Major League Soccer team Orlando City.[4] He made his debut in the season opener at home to New York City FC on 2 March 2019. In July 2019, Méndez was part of the Orlando City team alongside Nani and Chris Mueller that won the 2019 MLS All-Star Skills Challenge, beating teams from the MLS All-Stars and Atlético Madrid to win the $25,000 prize for charity.[5]
On 7 November 2021, Méndez scored his first goal for the club on his 65th appearance. The goal, a spectacular knuckling 20-yard strike, was the opener in an eventual 2–0 win away at CF Montréal. It was the final match of the regular season in which Orlando entered knowing a draw would guarantee qualification to the 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs.[6]
Los Angeles FC
On 19 July 2022, Méndez was acquired by Los Angeles FC via trade in exchange for $300,000 of General Allocation Money (GAM). Orlando could receive an additional $450,000 in GAM if certain contract conditions are met and also retained an undisclosed percentage of any future transfer fee.[7]
With LAFC, he won both the Supporters' Shield, after a 3-0 win over Austin FC,[8] and the MLS Cup Final, following a penalty shoot-out win over Philadelphia Union.[9] At the end of the 2022 season, he was released by the club.[10]
São Paulo
On 9 January 2023, Méndez joined Brazilian club São Paulo on a free transfer, signing a three-year contract.[11] Rarely used in his first season, he was loaned to Spanish Segunda División side Elche on 1 February 2024.[12]
International career
Méndez was a member of Ecuador’s 2017 South American U-20 Championship squad which reached the final of the tournament.[13]
In October 2018, Méndez was called up to the senior Ecuador national team by manager Hernán Darío Gómez for the first time.[14] He made his debut on 11 September 2018, playing 73 minutes in a 2–0 friendly victory over Guatemala at Toyota Park, Bridgeview, Illinois.[15][16] In May 2019, he was called into the squad for the 2019 Copa América, his first senior international tournament.[17] After sitting out the first group game, Méndez started against Chile and drew a foul from goalkeeper Gabriel Arias to win a penalty, Ecuador's only goal of a 2–1 defeat.[18] He started the following game, a 1–1 draw with Japan. Ecuador were eliminated after finishing bottom of Group C with one point.
In June 2021, Mendez was named to the final roster for the 2021 Copa América.[19]
Personal life
His uncle is former professional footballer and fellow Ecuadorean international player Édison Méndez.[20]
Career statistics
Club
- As of 19 July 2022
Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Playoffs | Other | Total | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Apps | Goals | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Independiente del Valle
|
2015 | Serie A | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||
2016
|
19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 19 | 0 | ||||
2017
|
20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 20 | 1 | ||||
2018
|
40 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 42 | 2 | ||||
Total | 81 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 83 | 3 | ||
Cultural Leonesa (loan) | 2015–16 | Segunda División B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
Orlando City | 2019 | MLS | 23 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 25 | 0 | |||
2020 | 19 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 4[a] | 0 | 23 | 0 | ||||
2021 | 17 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 18 | 1 | ||||
2022 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | 17 | 0 | |||||
Total | 72 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 83 | 1 | ||
Career total | 154 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 167 | 4 |
- ^ MLS is Back Tournament knockout stage
International
- As of 28 March 2023[21]
Ecuador | ||
---|---|---|
Year | Apps | Goals |
2018 | 5 | 0 |
2019 | 10 | 0 |
2020 | 1 | 0 |
2021 | 10 | 0 |
2022 | 8 | 0 |
2023 | 2 | 0 |
Total | 36 | 0 |
Honours
Los Angeles FC
São Paulo
References
- ^ "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 – Squad list: Ecuador (ECU)" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 10. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
- ^ "Sebas Méndez". Los Angeles FC. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ "Ecuador – J. Méndez – Profile with news, career statistics and history – Soccerway". uk.soccerway.com.
- ^ "Orlando City SC Signs Ecuadorian Midfielder Jhegson Sebastián Méndez | Orlando City Soccer Club".
- ^ "Nani gives Orlando City the win at the MLS Skills Challenge". AS.com. 31 July 2019.
- ^ "Man of the Match Spotlight: Sebas Mendez". www.orlandocitysc.com.
- ^ "LAFC Acquires Midfielder Sebastian Méndez". LAFC.
- ^ "LAFC advances to MLS Cup final with 3-0 win over Austin FC". The Washington Post. Associated Press. 30 October 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
- ^ Stejskal, Sam (5 November 2022). "LAFC finds Hollywood ending, beats Philadelphia on penalty kicks for first MLS Cup title". The Athletic. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
- ^ "LAFC Announces Roster Moves For 2023 Season". Los Angeles FC. 15 November 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
- ^ "São Paulo contrata equatoriano Méndez". São Paulo FC (in Brazilian Portuguese). 9 January 2023. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
- ^ "OFICIAL | Jhegson Méndez" [OFFICIAL | Jhegson Méndez] (in Spanish). Elche CF. 1 February 2024. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
- ^ "Selección Sub-20 de Ecuador definida para Sudamericano". eluniverso.com. 4 January 2017.
- ^ TIEMPO, EL (6 October 2018). "Carlos Cuero sufre lesión muscular".
- ^ "Ecuador vs. Guatemala – Football Match Summary – September 11, 2018 – ESPN". ESPN.com.
- ^ PERU21, NOTICIAS (12 September 2018). "Deportes: Ecuador ganó 2–0 a Guatemala por amistoso internacional en Chicago | NOTICIAS PERU21 PERÚ". Peru21 (in Spanish).
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "LOS 23 CONVOCADOS DE ECUADOR PARA COPA AMÉRICA DE BRASIL 2019" (in Spanish). FEF. 20 May 2019.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Ecuador vs. Chile – Football Match Report – June 21, 2019 – ESPN". ESPN.com.
- ^ "Copa America 2021: Ecuador's squad for the competition". Bolavip US.
- ^ "World Cup 2022: complete guide to all 831 players. Everything you need to know (and more) about every squad member in Qatar". The Guardian.
- ^ Jhegson Méndez at National-Football-Teams.com
External links
- Sebastian Mendez at Major League Soccer
- Jhegson Sebastian Mendez Carabal at Federación Ecuatoriana de Fútbol(in Spanish)
- Seba: Jhegson Sebastián Méndez Carabalí at BDFutbol
- J. Méndez at Soccerway