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NASL Minnesota United FC

United Adds Brazilian Striker Daniel Mendes

March 25, 2014 - North American Soccer League (NASL)
Minnesota United FC News Release


Minnesota United FC has announced it has added veteran Brazilian-born striker Daniel Mendes on season loan to its 2014 North American Soccer League (NASL) roster. Mendes will help bolster United's attack after the injury to Brazilian forward Pablo Campos.

"It's an important position to address," said United head coach Manny Lagos. "We certainly have to react to the injury to Pablo and the reality that we don't have a lot of forwards on the roster now. Daniel is a proven forward and has seen success for many years in Sweden. We feel like this is a great opportunity to add another veteran goal scorer to the roster."

The 5'9" Mendes is a 33-year old striker with extensive experience in Sweden's top professional league, the Allsvenskan, primarily with Kalmar FF and AIK.

"I am very happy and excited to be able to play in Minnesota," said Mendes. "I have dreamed of living in the U.S. and to live here and still do what I love, which is playing soccer, is incredible. Rediscovering Brazilian friends made the decision easy. I will do my best to have a great season with my teammates."

Before playing in Sweden, Mendes learned his craft in the youth academies of Corinthians (in his native São Paulo) and Juventus. He is a proven goal scorer, with 55 goals in 165 games in Sweden. His accomplishments include scoring the fastest goal ever scored in the Allsvenskan, at 6.4 seconds. He earned a reputation as a super sub (the Ole Gunnar Solskjær of the league, so to speak), scoring all his goals for AIK off the bench.

Mendes joins the United roster as the fifth Brazilian, re-joining old teammates Juliano Vicentini, with whom he played on the Brazilian under-20 team, and Tiago Calvano who was his teammate at Botafogo (the top club in Rio de Janeiro).

"It's an acknowledgment that we are trying to think outside the box in terms of the types of players that we are trying to bring into our club," said Lagos on how the 2014 roster is taking shape. "The reality is that via some of our current players and some of the contacts we have this is really where we are finding some great players. I hope our fanbase understands we are trying to think outside the box and improve as a team on all levels and hopefully we will be successful."

With the signing of Mendes, Minnesota's current 2014 roster consists of the following 22 players:

Goalkeepers: Matt VanOekel and Mitch Hildebrandt

Defenders: Tiago Calvano, Justin Davis, Cristiano Dias, Brent Kallman, Brian Kallman, Aaron Pitchkolan and Kevin Venegas

Midfielders: Omar Daley, Floyd Franks, Mozzi Gyorio, Miguel Ibarra, Michael Reed, Kentaro Takada and Juliano Vicentini

Forwards: Daniel Mendes, Simone Bracalello, Pablo Campos, Nate Polak, Christian Ramirez and Jamie Watson

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North American Soccer League Stories from March 25, 2014


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