Diego Ribas da Cunha

Not to be confused with Diego Sebastián Ribas.

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)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current club	Atlético Madrid
Number	22
Youth career
1996–2001	Santos
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2002–2004	Santos	64	(21)
2004–2006	Porto	48	(4)
2006–2009	Werder Bremen	84	(38)
2009–2010	Juventus	33	(5)
2010–	VfL Wolfsburg	30	(6)
2011–	→ Atlético Madrid (loan)	17	(2)
National team‡
2004–2008	Brazil U23	15	(6)
2003–	Brazil	33	(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 21 January 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20 May 2010

Diego Ribas da Cunha (born 28 February 1985), commonly known as just Diego, is an international Brazilian footballer who plays for Atlético Madrid on loan from VfL Wolfsburg, as an attacking midfielder. He is a playmaker known for his pinpoint passes, back-heelers, overhead kicks and a whole box of other tricks as well as his scoring abilities.

Club career

Santos

At age six, 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. Diego was first signed by the São Paulo team Santos at the age of 12. Diego developed whilst 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 and was seen as the successor to Deco but could not produce the same caliber of performances he did at Santos. Diego made his debut for Porto in a 1–1 draw against Leiria on 22 August 2004. On 30 October 2004, Diego scored his first goal for Porto in a 2–2 draw against Nacional. In his first season at Porto, Diego made 30 appearances scoring two goals more against Sporting Lisbon and Sporting Braga. However, in 2005–06, Diego did not maintain a stable place in the Porto team under coach Co Adriaanse and also found life difficult at Porto. He eventually 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.

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. 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. 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.

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.

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), although Bremen did finish just 10th in the Bundesliga and were knocked out of the Champions League at the group-stage.

In the UEFA Cup that season, Diego scored 6 goals, all in the knockout stages.

He scored against AC Milan the in round of 32, equalizing after 84' minutes, and assisting Claudio Pizarro second leg's only goal. He helped his team through the round of 16, and scored four of the six goals, and managed one assist in the quarterfinal knockout of Udinese,.

Diego playing for Juventus

In the semi finals, after losing 1–0 in their hometown to "North Derby" rivals Hamburger SV, 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 third Bremen goal. In that game, Diego received an unfortunate yellow card, preventing him from playing in the final, and with a 3–2 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 Ukrainian team Shakhtar Donetsk.

In his last match with Bremen, Diego gave the assist to Mesut Özil's winning 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 was 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.

Diego made his Juventus debut against the Korean side Seongnam, in a game they won 3–0. In the first half, Diego made the pass to Mauro Camoranesi, whose pass followed up to a goal. Diego then scored in the second half and was subbed out at the 60th minute. On his Serie A debut, he assisted Vincenzo Iaquinta's goal from a set-piece. In the second fixture of the campaign, Diego recorded his first Serie A goal, scoring twice in Juventus' 3–1 victory against Roma on 30 August 2009. He also scored goals against Bologna, Fiorentina and also against Napoli. One of his most noted assists was his backheel to Alessandro Del Piero's goal against Genoa. He has also scored in the 2010 Trofeo TIM against Milan. Diego's swaggering displays he produced during his time in Bremen were met with anger and confusion from Juventus' fans, the formation did not suit him and he had fall-out with then coach Ciro Ferrara. Juventus announced Diego would leave Juventus despite pleading to stay at the club. German clubs like Wolfsburg, Bayern Munich and his former club Werder Bremen were linked to sign him. But Werder Bremen ruled out signing him due to sporting director Klaus Allofs believing a deal to bring him back to Bremen would be 'economically impossible'. and Diego reiterated his desire to stay.

Wolfsburg

Eventually on 27 August 2010, Diego moved from Juventus to Wolfsburg for a club record transfer fee of €15.5 million, which Juve would only received €14.75 million as 5% of the transfer fee transferred to his youth clubs as solidarity contribution. Following his move to Wolfsburg, Diego criticized Juventus general director Giuseppe Marotta for his exit and is at fault for letting Juventus make huge losses on some high-profile players. In his first match for VfL Wolfsburg, he scored his debut goal in a game which Wolfsburg lost 3–4 to Mainz. On 5 February 2011, Diego won a penalty for Wolfsburg. Diego took the ball from designated spot-kick taker Patrick Helmes and then hit the woodwork 10 minutes from time. Wolfsburg later lost the match by one goal and Wolfsburg's furious manager Steve McClaren fined him €100,000 (£86,000) for failing to follow instructions. Diego was defended by Dieter Hoeneß claiming that Diego does not believe he should be banned for an incident. He was also informed that he will be removed from the first team for Wolfsburg’s upcoming game against Hamburg. He once again got in trouble with the management of Wolfsburg, when he on 14 May before a crucial relegation game against Hoffenheim left the hotel in which the team was staying, when he was informed he would not be starting the game. This left Wolfsburg with only six players on the bench for the game that would determine whether they would play another season in the German Bundesliga. Wolfsburg went on to win the game 3–1 without Diego ensuring another top flight season for the club, though Diego was fined €500,000 for his actions.

Atlético Madrid

After the 2010–11 season at Wolfsburg, Magath told Diego in May he had no future Wolfsburg. On the last day of the transfer season Diego joined Atlético Madrid on a season-long loan. On 10 September 2011, he made his debut for Atlético against Valencia. He scored his first goal for Atlético in the 60th minute of a UEFA Europa League game against Celtic to make it 2–0 and made assist to Falcao in the third minute. The match resulted 2–0 win for Atlético Madrid. Diego scored his first league goal in a 3–2 win over Levante UD on 20 November 2011. As a key player for Atlético Madrid, Diego provided assists and established himself in the first team.

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 mostly playing as deputy to Kaká and 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

• Portuguese Cup: 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

Club statistics

(correct as of 21 December 2011)

Club	Season	League		Cup		Continental		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Santos	2002	22	8	–		–		22	8
	2003	33	9	–		–		33	9
	2004	9	4	–		–		9	4
	Total	64	21	–		–		64	21
Porto	2004–05	30	3	2	0	7	1	39	4
	2005–06	18	1	2	1	4	1	24	3
	Total	48	4	4	1	11	2	63	7
Werder Bremen	2006–07	33	13	3	0	14	2	50	15
	2007–08	30	13	3	1	10	4	43	18
	2008–09	21	12	5	2	13	7	39	21
	Total	84	38	11	3	37	13	132	54
Juventus	2009–10	33	5	2	2	9	0	44	7
	2010–11	0	0	0	0	3	0	3	0
	Total	33	5	2	2	12	0	47	7
Wolfsburg	2010–11	30	6	2	0	–		32	6
	Total	30	6	2	0	–		32	6
Atlético Madrid	2011–12	14	1	1	0	6	2	21	3
	Total	14	1	1	0	6	2	21	3
Career total		273	75	20	6	66	17	359	98

International career

As of 1 April 2009

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

Personal life

Diego is of Italian ancestry with both of his paternal great grandparents emigrating from Italy to Brazil. His paternal great grandfather, Carlo Lazzari, came from Ferrara, Italy, and his paternal great grandmother, Maria Concetta Viola, came from Naples, Italy. As a result of his Italian ancestry, Diego received his Italian passport in 2004.

External links

• Atlético Madrid official profile
• Diego at fussballdaten.de (German)
• Diego at Transfermarkt
• Diego at National-Football-Teams.com
• Diego – FIFA competition record
• Official website (German) (Portuguese) (English)