António José Cardoso Mendes (born 12 March 1979), commonly known as Tozé Mendes, is a Portuguese football coach who is assistant coach of Swansea City.
Coaching career Early career Born in Guimarães, Mendes began coaching in the youth ranks of Vitória Guimarães in 2002. In 2011 he moved to Saudi Arabia's Al-Nassr to manage the under-17 team, and returned to his hometown club a year later as B-team assistant manager and under-17 manager. He won the national title in 2013–14.
In 2015–16, Mendes was under-19 manager, and came fourth at the Weifang Cup in China. In November that season he signed a contract with Chinese club Liaoning to manage at the same age range, and in January Vitória allowed him to move on a three-year deal. Mendes returned to Vitória as under-19 manager in 2018, and the under-23 team from 2019 to 2020, then went back to Saudi Arabia for the under-19 job at Al Wehda.
Malta At the end of the year 2020, 41-year-old Mendes was given his first job as head coach of a senior team, joining Valletta who were 8th in the Maltese Premier League. His debut on 22 January was a 1–0 win over Balzan. He finished the 2020–21 season in 7th place, and left by mutual consent on 3 February 2022 while in 6th.
Mendes became manager of the Malta under-19 team on 29 April 2022. He led the team in their hosting of the 2023 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification, elimination with three defeats, ending with a 2–1 loss to Portugal.
Vitória B On 1 August 2023, Mendes returned to Vitória as manager of the B team. He left the following 10 April, with one year remaining on his contract; the team were 8th in the Campeonato de Portugal and one point above being placed in the relegation series.
Assistant Mendes moved to AVS as assistant to Vítor Campelos in July 2024. He joined Marítimo to assist Vítor Matos in August 2025. When Matos departed for Swansea City, Mendes was caretaker manager for a 2–1 home win in Liga Portugal 2 against Penafiel on 23 November.
On 19 December 2025, Mendes moved to Swansea as part of Matos's staff. His arrival at the EFL Championship club had been delayed by work permit issues.
Managerial statistics
+Managerial record by team and tenureTeamFromToRecordGWDLWin %Vitória Guimarães U231 July 201930 June 2020Valletta28 December 20203 February 2022Malta U1929 April 202231 July 2023Vitória Guimarães B1 August 202310 April 2024Total
References