Gabriel Mendoza

Gabriel Rafael Mendoza Ibarra (Sewell, O'Higgins, Chile, May 22, 1968-) is a Chilean former soccer player and politician, nicknamed Coca Mendoza for his resemblance to the actress Coca Guazzini. His best campaigns were carried out at the end of the 80s with O'Higgins de Rancagua and at the beginning of the 1990s with Colo-Colo, a team in which he was national champion of the Copa Libertadores de América in 1991, the Cup Winners' Cup and the Inter-American Cup in 1992. He served as a councilor for Viña del Mar between 2016 and 2021.

Career

He was born in the mining town of Sewell, he spent much of his childhood there, later he moved to Graneros.

He made his professional debut in O'Higgins de Rancagua in 1986, a club in which he stood out noticeably, which made possible his hiring by Colo-Colo in 1991, a team in which he immediately fit in as a right back, with great freedom to let loose in Mirko Jozić's scheme; He had a European style that was highly defensive, but with a lot of vertigo on the sidelines.

After being one of the best men in the Copa Libertadores and then in the 1991 Copa América in Chile defending the national colors, he was considered among the best right-handed striker markers on the continent. He was also chosen in the Conmebol ideal team that same year.

In the mid-1990s, Mendoza was signed by the clubs São Paulo, Brazil and Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Mexico, and Shandong Taishan, China, but without being able to establish himself in football. Later he returned to the country to play for Santiago Wanderers and Colo-Colo, where he continued his professional career with ups and downs. In the last stage of his career he played for Santiago Morning.

National team

Mendoza played 36 games and scored a goal with the Chilean national soccer team, his debut being the 2-0 victory against Venezuela in Santiago, on July 6, 1991 in the first game of the Copa América of that year. In this cup, Mendoza was one of the high points of the Chilean team along with goalkeeper Patricio Toledo. In the national team he remained the undisputed starting right-back in the processes of Arturo Salah, Mirko Jozic and Xabier Azkargorta, until 1996, in which he lost the position due to the consistency of Cristián Castañeda, Moisés Villarroel and even other variants.

His last match for the national team was a friendly on April 2, 1997 against Brazil in Brasilia, in which Chile was defeated 4-0. After this he was not considered by coach Nelson Acosta, since Mendoza was the captain of the team in the previous period, this with Xabier Azkargorta, understanding the closeness with the previous coach.

Participations in World Cup Qualifiers

Elimination	Country	Outcome	Position	Parties	Goles
France 1998	France	Classified	4.o	1	0

Participations in Copa América

Copa America	Headquarters	Outcome	Parties
Copa America 1991	ChileChile	Third place	6
Copa America 1993	EcuadorEcuador	First round	3
Copa America 1995	Uruguay Uruguay	First round	3

Activity after retirement

In the 2000s, Gabriel Mendoza once again appeared in the media after participating in the reality shows La Granja VIP (in which he was a finalist) and 1810 (where he obtained first place), both from Channel 13.

He also actively participates in the so-called showbol, held throughout Chile and America, along with Iván Zamorano, Marcelo Vega, Nelson Tapia, Rodrigo Pérez and other former professional soccer players. He participates in company events and advertising campaigns.

Regarding his sporting activity, he is the director of the official Colo-Colo soccer school in the city of Viña del Mar, operating every Saturday afternoon at the Valparaíso Sporting Club and since 2016 in the El Belloto sector in Quilpué, at 10:00 in the morning.

Consider that for more than 10 years it has supported the sports activities of thousands of children, from the Viña del Mar Soccer Schools through the Casa del Deporte and other sports activities of the City Municipality.

Thanks to the support I have given to sports in the garden city, he was elected Councilor of Viña del Mar in the 2016 elections with more than 7% of the voters, being the candidate with the greatest support from the citizens in the commune (First majority that is worth presiding over the Council when the mayor is not present), taking the oath of office on December 6 of that same year at the Rioja Palace. Within that position, Mendoza was accused of irregularities due to Mendoza's failure to comply with municipal soccer schools, where there was no evidence that he had carried out the aforementioned activities, and he had to return the money paid by the municipality.

For the 2021 municipal elections, Mendoza ran as mayor of Graneros, as an independent candidate supported by Chile Vamos, but was not elected and was the candidate with the least votes among 4 candidates.

Clubs

Club	Country	Year
O'Higgins	ChileChile	1986-1990
Colo-Colo		1991-1995
São Paulo	BrazilBrazil	1996
Tiger UANL	Mexico Mexico	1996-1997
Santiago Wanderers	ChileChile	1998-2000
Shandong Luneng	ChinaChina	2001
Colo-Colo	ChileChile	2001
Santiago Morning		2002

Palmarés

As a player

National Championships

Title	Club	Country	Year
National Championship	Colo-Colo	ChileChile	1991
National Championship			1993
Copa Chile			1994
League of Ascenso	Tiger UANL	Mexico Mexico	Winter 1996
League of Ascenso			Summer 1997
Ascenso Champion			1996-97

International Cups

Title	Equipment	Country	Year
Copa Libertadores	Colo-Colo	ChileChile	1991
Recopa Sudamericana			1992
Inter-American Cup			1992

Individual distinctions

Electoral history

2016 municipal elections

Election of councilors 2016 (Viña del Mar)

2021 municipal elections

Mayor Election 2021 (Barns)