Tiago Cardoso Mendes was born on the 2nd of May 1980; his mum Julia is a kindergarten teacher, while dad Carlos works as an impresario. His only brother, Duarte, is a student.
He has a wife, Barbara, and two lovely children: Beatriz and Francisco.

In his spare time he spends a lot of time with his family. Little Francisco needs a lot of attention and Tiago often helps his wife Barbara.
When possible, he treats himself to a good movie, like Braveheart, with Mel Gibson, his favourite actor.
He listens to a lot of music: all kinds of stuff, depending on the moment and his mood, but U2 are the one group he couldn't do without. Beautiful Day is the song he listens to more often.

Tiago is learning to appreciate Italian cuisine and is rapidly falling in love with it, but the dish he just can't live without is the Bacalhau à bras (grilled cod) that his wife cooks for him. He doesn't drink wine.

His dress sense is like his personality: unfussy and informal. He favours casual wear, jeans and trainers, and doesn't spend much on accessories.

When he's not playing football, he plays tennis (he admits that he's not very good, but he's just started taking lessons) and is a fan of indoor hockey, a sport in which Portugal has excelled for years. He's also a huge Formula 1 and Motorbike racing fan. His favourite sportsman is undoubtedly Federer, whom he considers the most complete all-rounder of the last 10 years, a true champion.

Tiago began playing football when he was 8, in the Vianense team. He played as forward until the age of 15, when he began to switch to midfield. The best moment of his football career was at the 2004 European Championships.
It all went perfectly well up until the defeat in the final against Greece.

He has a grand dream as a professional, which he's hoping to achieve at Juventus: to win the Champions League.