Diego Gavilán

Diego Gavilán

Personal information
Full name	Diego Antonio Gavilán Zarate
Date of birth	1 March 1980 (1980-03-01)
Place of birth	Asunción, Paraguay
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Defensive Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Olimpia
Youth career
1996–1998	Cerro Porteño
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1998–1999	Cerro Porteño	24	(7)
1999–2003	Newcastle United	7	(1)
2002–2003	→ UAG (Loan)	14	(1)
2003	→ Internacional (Loan)	39	(5)
2003–2004	→ Udinese (Loan)	0	(0)
2004–2005	Internacional	57	(2)
2005–2007	Newell's	26	(1)
2007	Grêmio	17	(0)
2008	Flamengo	4	(0)
2008	Portuguesa	22	(0)
2009	Independiente	5	(0)
2010	Olimpia	2	(0)
2011 -	Juan Aurich
National team‡
2000–	Paraguay	43	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 6 February 2010. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of November 2009

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Gavilán and the second or maternal family name is Zarate.

Diego Antonio Gavilán Zarate (born 1 March 1980, Asunción) is a Paraguayan footballer. He currently plays for Juan Aurich and the Paraguay national football team.

Career

Gavilán's nickname pampero - meaning the horse that runs like the wind - offers a fair indication of his purposeful and hard-running style. He began his top-flight career at Cerro Porteño, and he became the first ever Paraguayan to play in England, when he signed for Newcastle United in 2000.

Gavilán cost Newcastle £2m when he left his native Paraguay behind at the age of just 19. He made his Premiership debut in a 2-2 draw at Sunderland. He struggled however, to stake a real claim for a first team place, making some appearances for the club as a substitute. He scored once in the league, against Coventry in a 2-0 win in April 2000.

Gavilán was loaned out to Tecos UAG in Mexico for the year 2002, by which time he had played only two further games for the club.

In 2003, he joined Internacional of Brazil. In 2006, Gavilán signed with the Argentinian side Newell's Old Boys. He signed the following year with Grêmio, returning to the city of Porto Alegre in Brazil.

Gavilán then joined Independiente on loan, and is currently with Portuguesa until November.

References

• (Spanish) Argentine Primera Statistics