| Robert Méndez | |
| Full Name: | Robert Méndez Rodríguez |
| Birth Date: | 28 August 1989 |
| Birth Place: | Concepción, Chile |
| Position: | Midfielder |
| Youthclubs1: | Universidad de Concepción |
| Years1: | 2007–2010 |
| Years2: | 2009 |
| Clubs2: | → Iberia (loan) |
| Years3: | 2010 |
| Clubs3: | → Fernández Vial (loan) |
| Clubs4: | Chiguayante Sur |
Robert Méndez Rodríguez (born 28 August 1989) is a Chilean former footballer who played as a midfielder.
Méndez began his career with Universidad de Concepción, signing a professional contract with the club at the age of eighteen.[1] Despite showing promise at an early age, he was sent by then-manager Jorge Pellicer on loan to Tercera A side Iberia in 2009 - a move Méndez suggested may have simply been a mistake in a 2023 interview with Diario AS.[1] [2] On 26 October 2009, Méndez was involved in a car accident while travelling on the highway from Los Ángeles to Concepción; after his partner, who was driving, fell asleep, the car crashed into a sign and Méndez suffered an injury to his left foot, later requiring one of his toes to be amputated.[1] [2]
Having spent three months in hospital, and another three months recovering, Méndez was loaned again to the third division in 2010, this time joining Fernández Vial.[2] After suffering a meniscus tear, he struggled to get game-time, and with his contract at Universidad de Concepción set to expire, he decided to retire.[1] Following his retirement from professional football, he would feature for local amateur side Chiguayante Sur.[1]
Though never called up to represent Chile in official games, Méndez was called up by then-Chile national team manager Marcelo Bielsa in 2007 to play for a squad of under-18 players, led by César Vaccia, in 'sparring' games with the senior squad.[3]
Méndez was given the nickname "Chilean Messi" by then-Chile national team assistant manager, Eduardo Berizzo, as he shared a similar hairstyle and technical ability as Argentine football legend Lionel Messi.[2] [4]
After his spell with Fernández Vial, he began to drink alcohol more frequently, and in a 2018 interview with El Mercurio, he stated that this led to him crashing his car a number of times.[1] His local side, Chiguayante Sur, offered him a position on the team, as well as helping him get a job as a driver for a construction company.[1] Following this, he became an electrical installer in Antofagasta, and later began studying to be a technician in mining processes.[1] [2]