António José Cardoso Mendes (born 12 March 1979), commonly known as Tozé Mendes, is a Portuguese football coach who is assistant coach of Swansea City.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | António José Cardoso Mendes | ||
| Date of birth | 12 March 1979[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Guimarães, Portugal | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Swansea City (assistant) | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| Years | Team | ||
| 2020–2022 | Valletta | ||
| 2022–2023 | Malta U19 | ||
| 2023–2024 | Vitória Guimarães B | ||
| 2025 | Marítimo (caretaker) | ||
Coaching career
editEarly career
editBorn in Guimarães, Mendes began coaching in the youth ranks of Vitória Guimarães in 2002.[2] In 2011 he moved to Saudi Arabia's Al-Nassr to manage the under-17 team, and returned to his hometown club a year later as B-team assistant manager and under-17 manager.[2] He won the national title in 2013–14.[2]
In 2015–16, Mendes was under-19 manager, and came fourth at the Weifang Cup in China.[2] In November that season he signed a contract with Chinese club Liaoning to manage at the same age range, and in January Vitória allowed him to move on a three-year deal.[2] Mendes returned to Vitória as under-19 manager in 2018, and the under-23 team from 2019 to 2020, then went back to Saudi Arabia for the under-19 job at Al Wehda.[3]
Malta
editAt the end of the year 2020, 41-year-old Mendes was given his first job as head coach of a senior team, joining Valletta who were 8th in the Maltese Premier League.[3] His debut on 22 January was a 1–0 win over Balzan.[4] He finished the 2020–21 season in 7th place, and left by mutual consent on 3 February 2022 while in 6th.[5]
Mendes became manager of the Malta under-19 team on 29 April 2022.[6] He led the team in their hosting of the 2023 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification, elimination with three defeats, ending with a 2–1 loss to Portugal.[7]
Vitória B
editOn 1 August 2023, Mendes returned to Vitória as manager of the B team.[8] He left the following 10 April, with one year remaining on his contract; the team were 8th in the Campeonato de Portugal and one point above being placed in the relegation series.[9]
Assistant
editMendes moved to AVS as assistant to Vítor Campelos in July 2024.[10] He joined Marítimo to assist Vítor Matos in August 2025.[11] When Matos departed for Swansea City, Mendes was caretaker manager for a 2–1 home win in Liga Portugal 2 against Penafiel on 23 November.[12]
On 19 December 2025, Mendes moved to Swansea as part of Matos's staff. His arrival at the EFL Championship club had been delayed by work permit issues.[13]
Managerial statistics
edit- As of 9 July 2023
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Vitória Guimarães U23 | 1 July 2019 | 30 June 2020 | 34 | 10 | 9 | 15 | 29.41 |
| Valletta | 28 December 2020 | 3 February 2022 | 28 | 12 | 4 | 12 | 42.86 |
| Malta U19 | 29 April 2022 | 31 July 2023 | 17 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 5.88 |
| Vitória Guimarães B | 1 August 2023 | 10 April 2024 | |||||
| Total | 75 | 23 | 18 | 34 | 30.67 | ||
References
edit- ↑ "Tozé Mendes". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Castro, Ricardo Jorge (7 October 2017). "Fez história em Guimarães, agora forma jovens na China" [He made history in Guimarães, now he trains youngsters in China] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 22 February 2026.
- 1 2 Busuttil, Antoine (28 December 2020). "Valletta FC appoint Toze as their new coach". Malta Football. Retrieved 22 February 2026.
- ↑ Cachia, Paul (22 January 2021). "Valletta beat Balzan to give Mendes a winning start". Times of Malta. Retrieved 22 February 2026.
- ↑ Busuttil, Antoine (3 February 2022). "Toze Mendes no longer Valletta FC coach". Malta Football. Retrieved 22 February 2026.
- ↑ "Former Valletta FC coach Toze Mendes takes over Malta U-19 team". Times of Malta. 29 April 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2026.
- ↑ Aquilina, Kurt (9 July 2023). "Tuma scores first international goal but Malta fall to Portugal". Times of Malta. Retrieved 23 February 2026.
- ↑ Mendes, António (1 August 2023). "Oficial: Tozé Mendes é o novo treinador da equipa B do V. Guimarães" [Official: Tozé Mendes is the new manager of V. Guimarães B team]. Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 February 2026.
- ↑ Casaca, Manuel (10 April 2024). "Tozé Mendes deixa o cargo de treinador da equipa B do V. Guimarães" [Tozé Mendes leaves role as manager of V. Guimarães B team]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 February 2026.
- ↑ "Tozé Mendes reforça equipa técnica de Vítor Campelos o AVS SAD" [Tozé Mendes bolsters Vítor Campelos's coaching team at AVS SAD] (in Portuguese). Guimaraes Digital. 2 July 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2026.
- ↑ Morais, Pedro (7 August 2025). "Experiência, sangue novo e qualificação: Marítimo dá a conhecer adjuntos de Vítor Matos" [Experience, new blood and qualifications: Marítimo present Vítor Matos's assistants]. Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 22 February 2026.
- ↑ "Marítimo-Penafiel, 2-1: insulares somam terceira vitória seguida diante de adversário reduzido a 10" [Marítimo-Penafiel, 2-1: islanders rack up third consecutive victory against an opponent reduced to 10 men]. Record (in Portuguese). 23 November 2025. Retrieved 22 February 2026.
- ↑ "Allen and Britton stay as Swans appoint new staff". BBC Sport. 19 December 2025. Retrieved 22 February 2026.