EUROSCENE/Paddy Agnew's column:So what went wrong? Bought for $40 million to replace the much- admired Argentine Juan Veron, departed for Old Trafford, he has spent most of the season on the Lazio substitutes' bench.
An established Spanish international and a mature player with two successive Champions League finals behind him with Valencia, 27-year-old Gaizka Mendieta should have been the guiding light for Lazio. In the end, things have gone so badly that, were it not for an all too welcome call-up to the Spanish World Cup squad, his season would have been one of total darkness.
Next Sunday, on the last day of the season, Lazio are at home to league leaders Inter Milan in a game that will decide the title contest. Mendieta, however, will doubtless end up watching the game from the bench.
The difficulties of fitting into a prematurely dismantled and hastily rebuilt side, the confusion caused by the sacking of coach Dino Zoff, replaced by Alberto Zaccheroni in only the first month of the season, and the impossibility of replacing Veron - a very different, more playmaking and less mobile player - all have doubtless contributed to Mendieta's difficult season.
It is at times like these that a player needs a helping hand, and for Mendieta that came just two weeks ago when Spanish coach José Camacho named him as one of the certain starters in his 23-man squad for South Korea and Japan.
Talking to The Irish Times recently after a training session at Lazio's Formello training ground north of Rome, Mendieta admitted candidly he could hardly wait for the Serie A season to end and the World Cup to begin.
"When you come into a World Cup after the sort of season that I've had here, then it represents a terrific opportunity to show what you can do. It's not always easy to step into the national team if you're not having a good run, but I'll give it a try."
Throughout Spain's all-too- easy, unbeaten run through Group 7 (Austria, Israel, Bosnia and Lichetenstein provided the hardly unstoppable opposition), Mendieta proved himself a handy goalscorer, netting five. Asked about that aspect of his game, he replies with a big laugh.
"Well I can score a lot more easily with Spain than with Lazio, that's for sure. Seriously, though, when I was in Valencia, I scored a fair bit, too."
Given a first round draw in a group along with Slovenia, Paraguay and South Africa, Spain have to be hot favourites to win their way through to the second round. Mendieta agrees, but is quick to point to Spain's regular habit of flattering only to deceive in finals tournaments, most recently with their surprise first round elimination at France '98.
"Clearly, we're the favourites in the group, but if you look at our recent experience in World Cup finals, being a favourite to come out of the first round doesn't always mean much.
"Obviously, both psychologically and from the viewpoint of progressing in the tournament, it's vitally important to get off to a good start. At Euro 2000, for example, we lost the first game (1-0 to Norway) and we were always struggling from that point on, trying to recover lost ground."
Given the outstanding quality of current Spanish league soccer, arguably the best in the world, many commentators will expect Spain to do better this time.
What does Mendieta say?
"Looking at the quality of our individual players and at the overall functioning of the team, you'd have to say that we could go very far at the finals. However, a World Cup is a World Cup and it's always difficult.
"You need your best players to remain injury free, you need them to be in form for the month of the finals and, of course, you need luck on your side, above all, luck."
