Lucas Mendes arrived in Qatar from Marseille in 2014, yet his wait for a debut stretched past Qatar’s World Cup at home in 2022. When it finally came, he took the opportunity with both hands the way defenders of his type tend to. Mendes’ grit and technical assurance, coupled with consistency, made him an automatic starter in Qatar’s rearguard, but has yet to rise to prominence under Lopetegui.

It was under Bartolome Marquez Lopez, appointed on the eve of the Asian Cup 2023, that Mendes flourished and ultimately played a crucial part in the title defence. The 35-year-old has been at Al Wakrah for five years and is a fan favourite. That owes to his consistency with the club, often showing up as the last man making the challenge nobody else got back to make. Al Annabi fans got a taste of Mendes’ ability to pose a threat in set-pieces in the opposition box in 2024 as the centre-back’s stunning strike secured a last-gasp 3-2 win against eventual automatic qualifiers Uzbekistan.