Mendieta's walk on the mild side

There was no running to the audience, no shooing away of team-mates. There was just a simple touching of two fingers on pursed lips and a kiss to the sweet Spanish night air.

Gaizka Mendieta may have just delivered the final nail in the coffin marked "Barcelona: The Van Gaal Years", with a beautiful bullet of a left-foot finish from 18 yards in the Nou Camp a fortnight ago, but the Valencia captain was still not going to indulge in the kind of selfish, ostentatious celebration many of his lesser colleagues choose. Gaizka Mendieta Zabala is a different kind of animal.

This a man who plays in midfield but who is still Valencia's leading scorer, domestically and in Europe. This is a man who plays in midfield but whose defensive tackling is immaculate. This is a man of supreme individual talent but who works for the team.

His goal in Barcelona in the semi-final had confirmed Valencia's presence in a European Cup final for the first time, but Mendieta turned immediately to those around him. No wonder Mendieta is coveted so widely. No wonder Valencia broke the bank to keep him.

That was last summer when, rather nicely, Real Madrid came calling with chequebook in hand. Hector Cuper, Valencia's manager, had just arrived from Real Mallorca. Cuper had two things to do straight away. Persuade Mendieta to reject Madrid, and persuade Claudio Lopez to do the same with Lazio. He did both.

But not cheaply, Mendieta is alleged to be the second highest earner in Spain - some claim. Then, Cuper bought Kily Gonzalez from Real Zaragoza. With that trio intact Valencia were ready to attack Europe.

They did, and Mendieta led the fight. "Mendieta does for Valencia what Roy Keane does for us," said Jaap Stam before Manchester United beat Valencia 3-0 at Old Trafford last December. The scoreline did not truly reflect the game.

At that stage Valencia's emergence as a continental force resembled Mendieta's personal voyage. Twenty-six in March, three years ago Mendieta was struggling to establish himself as one of the club's full backs. He had been at Valencia since leaving Castellon as a teenager, but, while he was capped at under-21 level by Spain, Mendieta's potential was stalled by the presence of Jocelyn Angloma.

Then, in one of those fortuitous, unforeseen ricochets, Mendieta's career swerved the day he was asked to fill in at centre half for Valencia in a league match. Mendieta played so well he began to push into midfield. He did so well in midfield that he began to dictate the game. From that day two years ago he has steadily developed into one of the most accomplished midfielders in Europe.

Eleven Spanish caps have come his way since; he will start for Spain in Euro 2000; he won goal of the season last year; he was included in the this year's team of the season in the Primera Liga - Rivaldo was not.

On Monday Kevin Keegan said: "Steve McManaman is the best midfielder in Europe on form at the minute." Keegan then asked for a challenge. Someone said: "Mendieta". Keegan said: "All right, I give you Mendieta."

What's more, Mendieta is easy to admire off the field. A Basque, he rejected military service in Spain as a conscientious objector. Described as "thoughtful", Mendieta sounds like a football outsider. He likes Lou Reed, independent films - "The ones that show how life is really lived," he said - and continues to study English as he has done since school. In English football, such activity would get Mendieta a bad name.

Not here. Yesterday, at Valencia's boot camp near Chantilly racecourse, Mendieta was besieged for interviews. The star status did not come easily. "Being captain of Valencia is symbolic. We are a team," he said. "The most important part is motivation and co-ordination. If we do not have that then it is impossible for me to be a captain.

"We have managed to keep up with the others and improve. What I am thinking about is winning. You can't think about what kind of goal."

He had been asked about the latter because Mendieta is the scorer of so many memorable ones. He celebrates memorably, too. With his mates.