Alexander Mendi, striker for the first football team of Faisaly, was born on March 20, 1994, in the western neighborhoods of the French city of Toulon, which houses the French naval arsenal and is the home of the aircraft carrier "Charles de Gaulle". Mendi, the third of his siblings, grew up in a home that knew no luxury, as his father worked in the naval arsenal and his mother cleaned houses, which shaped his awareness early on that sustenance is only obtained through hard work and perseverance.
In the same context, French academies did not open their doors to him early, so he went through small Toulon teams and Sevigaal Nice under 14 years, then was in the under 19 category where he played a match that changed his direction, signing his first professional contract in June 2014. He scored in the first minutes of his appearance in the French Premier League, securing a 6-1 victory over Bordeaux, before the journey of loans to Strasbourg, Nimes, Genguen, Bordeaux, and Brest began.
For his part, Mendi settled in Caen in January 2020, where he left 75 goals in 175 matches, then moved to Montpellier and scored 15 goals in one season. In July 2026, he packed his bags for Al-Mujama'a, carrying the Guinean-Bissau nationality internationally, and stated that everything he achieved in his career was the result of work and perseverance, despite the doubts he faced at the beginning.
He indicated that he classifies himself as a player of duty, and considers the Swede Zlatan Ibrahimovic his role model, while also emphasizing that he is a very family-oriented person, as his two sons play on the same team as the son of his former teammate Tigi Savani. In the last match at Al-Mujama'a City Stadium, Mendi scored a decisive goal in the 85th minute, granting Faisaly victory after the score was tied at 2-2.
He added that this goal was not born that night, but its story began 32 years ago in the city of Toulon, where he learned that giving precedes taking, a principle that has accompanied him on the field and in life, as he was not a striker who demanded the ball as much as he opened spaces for his teammates.
Source: Arriyadiyah newspaper
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