Diego Ribas da Cunha

Diego Ribas

Midfielder Diego Ribas da Cunha demonstrated his subtle skills with Werder Bremen for three seasons and his consistency persuaded Juventus to part with around US$31 million for the playmaker in May 2009.

The Brazilian has coped better with the tag of "new Diego Maradona" than many of his fellow South Americans and is considered one of Serie A's star names. Indeed, he has even been compared to past masters Michel Platini and Zinedine Zidane in the Italian media.

Quick Facts:

• Name: Diego Ribas da Cunha
• Nationality: Brazilian
• Date and Place of Birth: February 28, 1985 in Ribeirao Preto, Brazil
• Position: Midfielder
• Current Club: Juventus (Serie A)
• Previous Clubs: Santos (2002-2004), Porto (2004-2006), Werder Bremen (2006-2009)
• International Career: 2003 to present

Early Life:

A 6-year-old Diego started to show his talent when training with Comercial FC, in Ribeirao Preto. After joining another team, São Carlos, when he was 9, Diego decided to take trials in the hope of impressing a bigger club. Santos took him and he started to train in the junior categories at 12.

The Santos Years:

Diego was promoted to the Santos first team as a 16-year-old and won the Brazilian championship in his first season. He played alongside Robinho and both were rightly tipped for huge futures in the game.

A Move to Porto:

Like many South Americans who impress in their domestic leagues, Diego was transferred to Europe at a young age (18), but found life difficult at Portuguese giants Porto. He was seen as the successor to Deco, who had left defected to Barcelona, but could not produce the same caliber of performances he did at Santos.

He nonetheless scored seven goals in two seasons, helping the club to the league title in 2006. But after failing to hold down a regular place in the team that season, Werder Bremen swooped for his signature.

Success at Werder Bremen:

A US$7.6 million move to the Bundesliga revitalized the Brazilian, and he hit his stride immediately, scoring on his debut and setting up two other goals in a 4-2 win against Hannover 96. Further good performances in August 2006 earned him the Player of the Month award. He won the prize two more times that campaign and walked away with the Player of the Season award.

Diego carried on producing swashbuckling performances in his advanced midfield role, with the 2008-09 season his most successful. A haul of 20 goals and a German Cup triumph had the fans and media purring over his talents. His assist for Mesut Ozil's goal in that German Cup final was his last meaningful contribution in a Bremen shirt as 38 league goals in three seasons earned him a move to Juventus.

Brazil Career:

Diego is unfortunate that he has a player of Kaka's considerable talents ahead of him in the national team. The pair both operate in the playmaker role and the Real Madrid star's continued brilliance means he is the first-choice for Brazil, often leaving Diego benched.
But Diego has still had opportunities to shine for the Selecao, and was a key player as Brazil won the 2004 Copa America. He also helped his country to a Bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Diego Ribas da Cunha

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Diego

Personal information
Full name	Diego Ribas da Cunha
Date of birth	28 February 1985 (1985-02-28)
Place of birth	Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Playing position	Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current club	Juventus
Number	28
Youth career
1996–2001	Santos
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps (Gls)†
2002–2004	Santos	063 0(21)
2004–2006	Porto	044 00(7)
2006–2009	Werder Bremen	084 0(38)
2009–	Juventus	011 00(3)
National team‡
2004–2008	Brazil U23	015 0(6)
2005–	Brazil	023 0(4)
Honours Competitor for Brazil Men's Football Bronze 2008 Beijing Team Competition
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23 November 2009. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15 May 2008

Diego Ribas da Cunha (born 28 February 1985) commonly known as just Diego, is an international Brazilian footballer who plays for Italian Serie A club Juventus and is also member of the Brazilian national team.

Contents [hide] 1 Club career 1.1 Santos 1.2 Porto 1.3 Werder Bremen 1.3.1 2006–07 season 1.3.2 2007–08 season 1.3.3 2008-09 season 1.4 Juventus 2 International career 3 Honours 4 Career statistics 4.1 Club career 4.2 International career 5 References 6 External links

Club career

Santos

Diego was first signed by the São Paulo team Santos at the age of 12. Diego developed in the Santos youth system, making his first team debut at the age of 16 in the Rio-São Paulo Championship in 2002 and in the same year he won the domestic Campeonato Brasileiro championship. He, Robinho, Elano and Alex were known as a famous group when they played for Santos.

Porto

Diego was then signed by Portuguese club FC Porto in July 2004 as a replacement for the FC Barcelona-bound Deco. However, in 2005–06, Diego did not maintain a stable place in the Porto team under coach Co Adriaanse and he subsequently left Porto for Werder Bremen.

Werder Bremen

2006–07 season

In May 2006, Diego signed a contract with Werder Bremen until 2010 for a transfer fee of €6 million.^[2]

His first match for Werder Bremen came in the DFB-Ligapokal (League Cup). Werder Bremen won the cup beating Bayern Munich in the final on 5 August.

The 2006–07 Bundesliga season began well for Diego. He scored the first goal and set up two more for Bremen in their 4-2 win over Hannover 96, on 13 August. In his second match in the Bundesliga he set up both goals in the 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen.

Thanks to his good performances in August, both in the Bundesliga and in the Premiere Ligapokal, Diego won the August Player of the Month award.^[3] As the Bundesliga season went on, Diego made several amazing performances and became one of the most valuable players for Werder Bremen, along with his team-mate Torsten Frings. They are called the "two motors of Bremen's midfield." In October 2006, he won a second Player of the Month award and again in December 2006. He was then named as the Best Player of the first half of the Bundesliga.

Werder Bremen finished in third place in Group A in the Champions League group stages, and they moved to the UEFA Cup, where they reached the semi-finals, beating AZ from the Netherlands in the quarter-finals, due in part to Diego's creative play.

On 15 April, Diego again played well, scoring in the 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund. Five days later, on 20 April, Bremen played against Alemannia Aachen. Although Diego's performance was good, he did not score until stoppage time when he scored from 62.5 metres, which later was elected as goal of the year. Bremen won the game 3-1 and topped the table with 60 points.

Following his good performances in the first half of the Bundesliga, Diego got called up to the Brazilian national football team in November.

After the 2006–07 season ended, Diego won the Bundesliga Player of the Season award organised by popular magazine Kicker.^[4] He got just over 50 percent of the votes. Unfortunately, his team did not win the Bundesliga after finishing 3rd in the table, behind champions VfB Stuttgart and Schalke 04.

2007–08 season

Diego started his season well, scoring a penalty on the first matchday. Diego gave many outstanding performances. He was crucial as Bremen got through to the Champions League's group phase. They beat Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb 3-2 in Zagreb, with Diego scoring two penalties.

On the first Champions League Group Stage matchday, Bremen lost 2-1 to Real Madrid, but Diego's performance aroused interest in Real Madrid's coach Bernd Schuster. But the stories were put to an end when Diego signed a new contract which would last until 2011.^[5]

After the loss to Real Madrid, Bremen faced VfB Stuttgart, the defending German champions, at home. Werder won 4-1, with Diego leading the midfield. Later on in the season, Bremen achieved a historical 8-1 win over Arminia Bielefeld, with Diego assisting three goals and scoring one himself.

Diego was voted Player of the Month in September.^[6]

He then scored two goals on the way to the UEFA Cup quarter final with Bremen.

2008-09 season

Diego's last season in Werder Bremen was his most successful. Diego scored 20 goals in total (more than his two first seasons in the club), while although Bremen did finish just 10th in the bundesliga and was knocked out into uefa cup from the Champions League group stage, Diego has kept on a great performance throughout the season.

In Uefa Cup competition that season, Diego scored 6 goals, all in knockout stages (since Bremen dropped out from the Uefa Champions League into Uefa Cup's round of 32).

He scored against AC Milan the in round of 32, equalizing after 84' minutes, and assisting Claudio Pizarro in the second leg to one goal. He helped his team through the round of 16, And in the quarter final against Udinese, he brilliantly scored four goals out of six in the two meetings, and assisting one.

In the semi finals, after losing 1-0 in their hometown to Hamburg, Diego helped his team back in the second leg with an early equalizer to Ivica Olic's early critical goal. Later on that game, he assisted a corner to Frank Baumann's 3rd Bremen goal. In that game, Diego received an unfortunate yellow card, preventing him from playing in the final, but still with a 3-2 heroic away win, he ended his Uefa Cup participation, leading Bremen to their first Uefa Cup final ever.

Without Diego in the 2009 Uefa Cup final, Bremen lost the game 2-1 in extra time to Ukranian team Shakhtar Donetsk.

In his last match with Bremen, Diego gave the assist to Mesut Özil's victory goal against Bayer Leverkusen in the German Cup final, to win the German Cup for the sixth time.

Juventus

On 26 May 2009, Diego signed a five-year contract to join Juventus at the end of the season. The fee paid to Bremen by Juventus is worth €24.5 million. The price can rise by a further €2.5 million in case of the fulfillment of established sports objectives in the next five years.^[7]

Diego made his Juventus debut against the Korean side Seongnam where they won 3-0. In the first half Diego made the pass to Camoranesi whose pass followed up to a goal. Diego then scored in the second half and then subbed out at the 60th minute.^[8] On his Serie A debut he assisted Iaquinta's goal from a set-piece.^[9] In the second fixture of the campaign, Diego recorded his first Serie A goal, scoring twice in Juventus' 3-1 victory against Roma on August 30, 2009.^[10]

International career

Diego with the Brazilian national team.

Diego made his international debut in April 2003 in a friendly match against Mexico. He was later included in Brazil U-23 team that competed in 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup alongside Santos' teammate Robinho. Although Brazil compete as an under-23 team, the international appearances and goals were recorded as FIFA acknowledge the tournament as senior-team matches. He appeared five times and scored two goals as Brazil U-23 lost out to Mexico senior-team in the final.

In 2004, Diego was called up for the Brazil national squad for the Copa América 2004, and he was instrumental in securing the tournament victory for Brazil when he scored in the penalty shootout against Argentina in the final.

However, due to his decline in performance with FC Porto between 2004 and 2006, he was often left out of the Brazil squad. He was also left out of the Brazil squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

After a move to Werder Bremen, he regained his form and subsequently recalled to the Brazil squad for a in November 2006. He was then included in Brazil's squad for Copa América 2007, which Brazil went on to win, once again defeating Argentina in the final.

Diego also participated with Brazil U-23 team for 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Brazil went on to achieve Bronze medal with a third place finish in the tournament.

Honours

Santos

• Campeonato Brasileiro: 1
  

2002

Porto

• Portuguese Supercup: 1
  

2004

• Intercontinental Cup: 1
  

2004

• Portuguese Liga: 1
  

2006

Werder Bremen

• German League Cup: 1
  

2006

• German Cup: 1
  

2009

International

• Salerno Mundialito: 1
  

2000

• South American Under 17 Championship: 1
  

2001

• Toulon Tournament: 1
  

2002

• Copa América: 2
  

2004, 2007

• Olympic Bronze Medalist: 1
  

2008

Career statistics

Club career

As of 29 August 2009

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Brazil			League		Copa do Brasil		League Cup		South America		Total
2002	Santos	Série A	22	8	—	—			—	—	30	10
2003			33	9	—	—			—	—	33	9
2004			9	4	—	—			—	—	9	4
Total	Brazil		64	21	—	—			—	—	64	21
Portugal			League		Cup of Portugal		Portuguese League Cup		Europe		Total
2004-05	Porto	Portuguese Liga	30	3					6	1	36	4
2005-06			19	1					4	1	23	2
Total	Portugal		49	4					10	2	59	6
Germany			League		DFB-Pokal		Premiere Ligapokal		Europe		Total
2006–07	Werder Bremen	Bundesliga	33	13	1	0			14	2	48	15
2007–08			30	13	3	1			8	2	42	16
2008–09			21	12	4	2			13	7	38	22
Total	Germany		84	38	8	3			36	12	126	52
Italy			League		Coppa Italia		League Cup		Europe		Total
2009–10	Juventus	Serie A	11	3	0	0			3	0	14	3
Total	Italy		11	3	0	0			3	0	14	3
Career Total			201	65	8	3	0	0	45	13	255	82

International career

As of 1 April 2009.^{[11][12][13][14][15]}

National team Season Apps Goals Brazil 2003 7 2 2004 5 0 2004–2005 0 0 2005–2006 0 0 2006–2007 10 1 2007–2008 9 1 2008–2009 2 0 Total 33 4

International appearances and goals # Date Venue Opponent Result Goal Competition 2003 1. April 30, 2003 Guadalajara, Mexico Mexico 0–0 0 Friendly 2. July 13, 2003 Mexico City, Mexico Mexico 0–1 0 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup (Brazil U-23) 3. July 16, 2003 Mexico City, Mexico Honduras 2–1 1 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup (Brazil U-23) 4. July 19, 2003 Miami, United States Colombia 2–0 0 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup (Brazil U-23) 5. July 23, 2003 Miami, United States United States 2–1 1 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup (Brazil U-23) 6. July 27, 2003 Mexico City, Mexico Mexico 0–1 0 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup (Brazil U-23) 7. September 7, 2003 Barranquilla, Colombia Colombia 2–1 0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification 2004 January 7, 2004 Concepción, Chile Venezuela 4–0 1 2004 Olympic Games qualification (Brazil U-23) January 9, 2004 Concepción, Chile Paraguay 3–0 1 2004 Olympic Games qualification (Brazil U-23) January 11, 2004 Concepción, Chile Uruguay 1–1 0 2004 Olympic Games qualification (Brazil U-23) January 15, 2004 Concepción, Chile Chile 1–1 0 2004 Olympic Games qualification (Brazil U-23) January 21, 2004 Valparaíso, Chile Argentina 0–1 0 2004 Olympic Games qualification (Brazil U-23) January 23, 2004 Viña del Mar, Chile Chile 3–1 1 2004 Olympic Games qualification (Brazil U-23) January 25, 2004 Viña del Mar, Chile Paraguay 0–2 0 2004 Olympic Games qualification (Brazil U-23) 8. July 8, 2004 Arequipa, Peru Chile 1–0 0 Copa América 2004 9. July 11, 2004 Arequipa, Peru Costa Rica 4–1 0 Copa América 2004 10. July 14, 2004 Arequipa, Peru Paraguay 1–2 0 Copa América 2004 11. July 21, 2004 Lima, Peru Uruguay 1–1 0 Copa América 2004 12. July 25, 2004 Lima, Peru Argentina 2–2 0 Copa América 2004 2006–2007 13. November 15, 2006 Basel, Switzerland Switzerland 2–1 0 Friendly 14. February 6, 2007 London, England Portugal 0–2 0 Friendly 15. March 24, 2007 Gothenburg, Sweden Chile 4–0 0 Friendly 16. March 27, 2007 Stockholm, Sweden Ghana 1–0 0 Friendly 17. June 1, 2007 London, England England 1–1 1 Friendly 18. June 5, 2007 Dortmund, Germany Turkey 0–0 0 Friendly 19. June 26, 2007 Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela Mexico 0–2 0 Copa América 2007 20. July 4, 2007 Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela Ecuador 1–0 0 Copa América 2007 21. July 10, 2007 Maracaibo, Venezuela Uruguay 2–2 0 Copa América 2007 22. July 15, 2007 Maracaibo, Venezuela Argentina 3–0 0 Copa América 2007 2007–2008 23. August 22, 2007 Montpellier, France Algeria 2–0 0 Friendly 24. September 9, 2007 Chicago, United States United States 4–2 0 Friendly 25. October 17, 2007 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Ecuador 5–0 0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 26. February 6, 2008 Dublin, Ireland Republic of Ireland 1–0 0 Friendly 27. March 26, 2008 London, England Sweden 1–0 0 Friendly 28. May 31, 2008 Seattle, United States Canada 3–2 1 Friendly 29. June 6, 2008 Boston, United States Venezuela 0–2 0 Friendly 30. June 15, 2008 Asunción, Paraguay Paraguay 0–2 0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 31. June 18, 2008 Belo Horizonte, Brazil Argentina 0–0 0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification June 22, 2008 Volta Redonda, Brazil Rio de Janeiro State Selection 1–0 0 Unofficial friendly (Brazil U-23) 2008–2009 July 28, 2008 Singapore Singapore 3–0 1 Friendly (Brazil U-23) August 1, 2008 Hanoi, Vietnam Vietnam 3–0 0 Friendly (Brazil U-23) August 7, 2008 Shenyang, China PR Belgium 1–0 0 2008 Olympic Games (Brazil U-23) August 10, 2008 Shenyang, China PR New Zealand 5–0 0 2008 Olympic Games (Brazil U-23) August 13, 2008 Qinhuangdao, China PR China PR 3–0 1 2008 Olympic Games (Brazil U-23) August 16, 2008 Shenyang, China PR Cameroon 2–0 0 2008 Olympic Games (Brazil U-23) August 19, 2008 Beijing, China PR Argentina 0–3 0 2008 Olympic Games (Brazil U-23) August 22, 2008 Shanghai, China PR Belgium 3–0 1 2008 Olympic Games (Brazil U-23) 32. September 7, 2008 Santiago, Chile Chile 3–0 0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 33. September 10, 2008 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Bolivia 0–0 0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

References

1. ^ "Diego Profile". Diego. 3 September 2009. http://www2.diego10.com.br/content/profile. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
2. ^ "Diego making his mark in Bremen". 25 October 2006. http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=106944.html. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
3. ^ "Fußballer des Monats - August 2006" (in German). http://www.fussballer-des-monats.de/. Retrieved 6 October 2007.
4. ^ "Bundesliga - Diego crowned Bundesliga's best". Eurosport.com. 29 May 2007. http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/29052007/58/bundesliga-diego-crowned-bundesliga-s-best.html. Retrieved 6 October 2007.
5. ^ "Diego Extends Until 2011". werder.de. 22 September 2007. http://www.werder.de/english/news/meldung.php?id=963. Retrieved 6 October 2007.
6. ^ "Fußballer des Monats - September 2007" (in German). http://www.fussballer-des-monats.de/. Retrieved 6 October 2007.
7. ^ "Diego is officially a Juventus player". Juventus Football Club. 26 May 2009. http://juventus.com/site/eng/NEWS_newsseriea_65E44289495641DF881D1CE321ACABB5.asp. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
8. ^ "Diego Scores A Cheeky Goal In Juventus Debut". totalprosports.com. 29 July 2009. http://www.totalprosports.com/blog/index.php/2009/07/diego-scores-a-cheeky-goal-in-juventus-debut/. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
9. ^ "Diego's idea, Iaquinta's header Juve down Chievo". La Gazzetta dello Sport. 23 August 2009. http://english.gazzetta.it/Football/23-08-2009/diego-s-idea-iaquinta-s-headerjuve-down-chievo-501117857512.shtml. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
10. ^ "Serie A: Diego double spells trouble for Roma". ESPN. 30 August 2009. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=672234&sec=europe&cc=5739. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
11. ^ "Seleção Brasileira (Brazilian National Team) 2002-2003". rsssfbrasil.com. http://www.rsssfbrasil.com/sel/brazil200203.htm. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
12. ^ "Seleção Brasileira (Brazilian National Team) 2004-2005". rsssfbrasil.com. http://www.rsssfbrasil.com/sel/brazil200405.htm. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
13. ^ "Seleção Brasileira (Brazilian National Team) 2006-2007". rsssfbrasil.com. http://www.rsssfbrasil.com/sel/brazil200607.htm. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
14. ^ "Seleção Brasileira (Brazilian National Team) 2008-2009". rsssfbrasil.com. http://www.rsssfbrasil.com/sel/brazil200809.htm. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
15. ^ "Seleção Brasileira Restritiva (Brazilian National Restrictive Team) 2004-2008". rsssfbrasil.com. http://www.rsssfbrasil.com/sel/brazil200408r.htm. Retrieved 23 September 2009.