Christian Mendes
# Christian Mendes

Christian Mendes Cavalcanti (born 23 December 1972) is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Vorarlbergliga club FC Hörbranz. He has also worked as a player-coach. He holds Austrian citizenship.

## Playing career

Mendes started his football career in his native Brazil, playing for Palestra and São Caetano. He then moved to Austria, where he played most of his career in the lower tiers of Austrian football, mainly in the province of Vorarlberg, beside stints in Switzerland and Germany. Most notably, he had two spells with Austria Lustenau and also worked for the club as a youth coach.

After Mendes was dismissed as player-coach at VfB Bezau, he began playing for FC St. Margrethen in the summer of 2021 at the age of 48. In October 2021, it was announced that Mendes would move to FC Hörbranz from January 2022. He made his debut for Hörbranz on 19 March 2022, starting in a 1–0 loss to SK Meiningen.

## Managerial career

In January 2015, Mendes was appointed head coach of SC Göfis in the Vorarlbergliga; his first managerial job. He was dismissed in May 2015.

In January 2016, he took over as head coach of FC Singen 04 in the German Verbandsliga Südbaden, functioning as a player-coach. The club finished bottom of the league table in the 2015–16 season.

Mendes became head coach of VfB Bezau on 3 May 2021. He only coached the team through five matches in the Vorarlbergliga before being dismissed in August 2021.

