Marcelo Díaz
Díaz against Spain in September 2013
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||
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| Full name | Marcelo Alfonso Díaz Rojas | |||||||||||
| Date of birth | 30 December 1986 | |||||||||||
| Place of birth | Santiago, Chile | |||||||||||
| Height | 1.66 m (5 ft 5 in) | |||||||||||
| Playing position | Midfielder | |||||||||||
| Club information | ||||||||||||
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Current team
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Celta | |||||||||||
| Number | 5 | |||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||
| 1997–2005 | Universidad de Chile | |||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||
| 2005–2012 | Universidad de Chile | 164 | (4) | |||||||||
| 2010 | → La Serena (loan) | 13 | (5) | |||||||||
| 2012–2015 | Basel | 58 | (7) | |||||||||
| 2015 | Hamburger SV | 19 | (1) | |||||||||
| 2016– | Celta | 30 | (0) | |||||||||
| National team‡ | ||||||||||||
| 2005 | Chile U20 | 7 | (0) | |||||||||
| 2011– | Chile | 52 | (1) | |||||||||
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Honours
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| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:12, 26 February 2017 (UTC). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15 November 2016 |
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Marcelo Alfonso Díaz Rojas (Spanish pronunciation: [marˈselo ˈði.as]; born 30 December 1986) is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Spanish club Celta de Vigo and the Chile national team.
Díaz came through Universidad de Chile youth academy, and was promoted to the first team in 2004, when he was 18. Making 162 appearances Díaz was an integral part of the team with the club that won five titles including three consecutive national championships and the 2011 Copa Sudamericana; the club's first international title. In 2012, he moved to Swiss side Basel, where he won two consecutive league titles, before moving to Hamburger SV in 2015.
Díaz has earned over 30 caps for Chile since his senior debut in 2011, and represented the nation at the 2014 FIFA World Cup as well as the 2015 Copa América, winning the latter while being named in the Team of the tournament.
Díaz has earned the nickname of "South American Xavi", as both of them have a great ball control capabilities and excellent passing skills. In June 2015, he scored a 91st minute free-kick goal that helped save Hamburger SV from its first ever relegation from the Bundesliga and is considered to be one of the most important goals in the club's 128-year history.
Díaz began his career in Universidad de Chile youth academy, being immediately accepted by Jorge Cabrera, then coach of the club's lower divisions. He played in the Club Julio Covarrubias of Padre Hurtado before arriving to Universidad de Chile, with Díaz saying that he felt kind of lucky for being accepted in the club, because he was a very low profile player. He progressed over all categories in the lower divisions, mainly acting as a playmaker. He was promoted to the first team in 2004 at the age of 18, but he was only called to three matches and not debuted in any of them. The next season, Díaz made his professional debut in a 3–2 loss with Everton for the first week of the 2005 Apertura Tournament. In the 2006 season, he played 29 matches between the Apertura and the Clausura Tournament.
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