Diego in 2014
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Personal information | ||||||||||||
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Full name | Diego Ribas da Cunha | |||||||||||
Date of birth | 28 February 1985 | |||||||||||
Place of birth | Ribeirão Preto, Brazil | |||||||||||
Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | |||||||||||
Playing position | Attacking midfielder | |||||||||||
Club information | ||||||||||||
Current team
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Flamengo | |||||||||||
Number | 35 | |||||||||||
Youth career | ||||||||||||
1996–2001 | Santos | |||||||||||
Senior career* | ||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||
2002–2004 | Santos | 70 | (23) | |||||||||
2004–2006 | Porto | 48 | (4) | |||||||||
2006–2009 | Werder Bremen | 84 | (38) | |||||||||
2009–2010 | Juventus | 33 | (5) | |||||||||
2010–2014 | VfL Wolfsburg | 76 | (19) | |||||||||
2011–2012 | → Atlético Madrid (loan) | 30 | (3) | |||||||||
2014 | Atlético Madrid | 13 | (1) | |||||||||
2014–2016 | Fenerbahçe | 53 | (5) | |||||||||
2016– | Flamengo | 17 | (6) | |||||||||
National team‡ | ||||||||||||
2004–2008 | Brazil U23 | 15 | (7) | |||||||||
2003– | Brazil | 34 | (4) | |||||||||
Honours
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* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 8 March 2017. ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 25 January 2017 |
Diego Ribas da Cunha (born 28 February 1985), commonly known as just Diego, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Brazilian club Flamengo.
Diego began his career at Santos, where he won two Campeonato Brasileiro Série A titles before moving to Porto in 2004. Despite winning further trophies in Portugal, his personal form dropped. After two seasons, he moved for €6 million to Werder Bremen where his form improved, winning domestic honours and helping them to the 2009 UEFA Cup Final. He also won honours at Atlético Madrid, including the UEFA Europa League in 2012.
A full international for Brazil since 2003, Diego earned 33 caps and scored four international goals. He was part of the Brazilian squads which finished as runners-up at the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup, won the Copa América in 2004 and 2007, and earned a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics.
At age six, Diego started to show his talent when training with Comercial FC in Ribeirão Preto. After joining another team, São Carlos, when he was nine, Diego decided to take trials in the hope of impressing a bigger club. Diego was first signed by the São Paulo team Santos at the age of 12. He developed while 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 won the domestic Campeonato Brasileiro championship. He, Robinho, Elano and Alex were known as a famous group when they played for Santos.