Ramón Díaz

Ramón Díaz

Personal information
Full name	Ramón Ángel Díaz
Date of birth	August 29, 1959 (1959-08-29)
Place of birth	La Rioja, Argentina
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Independiente (Manager)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1978–1981	River Plate	123	(57)
1982–1983	Napoli	25	(3)
1983–1986	Avellino	78	(22)
1986–1988	Fiorentina	53	(17)
1988–1989	Internazionale	33	(12)
1989–1991	Monaco	60	(24)
1991–1993	River Plate	52	(27)
1993–1995	Yokohama Marinos	75	(52)
National team
1979–1982	Argentina	22	(10)
Teams managed
1995–2002	River Plate
2004–2005	Oxford United
2007–2008	San Lorenzo
2008–2009	Club América
2010–2011	San Lorenzo
2011-	Independiente
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2007. † Appearances (Goals).

Ramón Ángel Díaz (born 29 August 1959 in La Rioja), is a former Argentine football player. For most of his career, he played for, and later coached, Club Atlético River Plate. He is also known by the nickname of El Pelado ("Baldy").

Díaz won the World Youth Cup in 1979 with the Argentina Under-20 team alongside Diego Maradona. He also played in the 1982 FIFA World Cup and scored against Brazil in Argentina's 3-1 defeat. It had been rumoured that he and Maradona were involved in a feud which prevented Diaz from playing for Argentina in the 1986 and 1990 World Cups. However, this was denied by Maradona in his autobiography "El Diego", claiming that he had told the then-Argentina manager, Carlos Bilardo, that he wanted Diaz in both the 1986 and 1990 World Cup squads.

Diaz played in River Plate's youth system under Norberto "El Pacha" Yacono, who recommended Diaz to his "Maquina" Teammate Angel Labruna who was coaching the senior side.

Díaz played as a forward. His opening game in the Argentine First Division was on 1978-08-13, a game where River Plate beat Colón de Santa Fe by 1–0. He scored his first goal on 30 August of that year, playing against Quilmes Atlético Club. His last game was on 1993-03-13.

Managerial career

Díaz served as the manager of River Plate between 1995 and 2003, in that time he guided the club to victory in the 1996 Copa Libertadores as well as collecting five league titles and the Supercopa Sudamericana.

Ramón Díaz served as manager of League Two English club Oxford United between 2004 and 2005, despite already having achieved considerable success in his native Argentina. At the time, Diaz told the media: "I like English football and I wanted to get first-hand experience of it...I'd seen plenty of it on television...It's also very interesting to work at this level, because it's completely different from football at the top." It was also claimed that neither Diaz nor any of his five backroom staff were being paid by Oxford United for their services.

In 2007 he was appointed head coach of San Lorenzo, in the Argentine Primera. In his first season with the club he led them to the Clausura 2007 championship title, the club's first title in six years. In 2008, Diaz was confirmed as the new Club América coach. Although the club did not reveal specific details about Diaz' contract, he was reportedly offered 1.5 million dollars per year including performance-related bonuses which could have taken his total earnings to 6 million dollars. He was fired on 10 February 2009.

Statistics

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Argentina			League		Cup		League Cup		Total
1978	River Plate	Primera División	14	5					14	5
1979			22	12					22	12
1980			40	22					40	22
1981			47	18					47	18
Italy			League		Coppa Italia		League Cup		Total
1982/83	Napoli	Serie A	25	3					25	3
1983/84	Avellino	Serie A	24	7					24	7
1984/85			27	5					27	5
1985/86			27	10					27	10
1986/87	Fiorentina	Serie A	29	10					29	10
1987/88			24	7					24	7
1988/89	Internazionale	Serie A	33	12	7	1	3	2	43	15
France			League		Coupe de France		Coupe de la Ligue		Total
1989/90	Monaco	Division 1	28	15					28	15
1990/91			32	9					32	9
Argentina			League		Cup		League Cup		Total
1991/92	River Plate	Primera División	31	20					31	20
1992/93			21	7					21	7
Japan			League		Emperor's Cup		J. League Cup		Total
1993	Yokohama Marinos	J. League 1	32	28	3	1	5	3	40	32
1994			37	23	4	2	3	1	44	26
1995			6	1	0	0	-		6	1
Country	Argentina		175	84					175	84
	Italy		189	54					189	54
	France		60	24					60	24
	Japan		75	52	7	3	8	4	90	59
Total			499	214	7	3	8	4	514	221

He was the top scorer of the Apertura 1991, and Japan League's Scoring Champion in 1993.

Titles as coach for River

Championship	Year
Copa Libertadores	1996
Argentine Apertura	1996
Argentine Clausura	1997
Supercopa Sudamericana	1997
Argentine Apertura	1997
Argentine Apertura	1999
Argentine Clausura	2002

He has the River coaching record of 7 championships.

Titles as coach for San Lorenzo de Almagro

Championship	Year
Argentine Clausura	2007

Argentina national team
Year	Apps	Goals
1979	1	1
1980	9	4
1981	4	1
1982	8	4
Total	22	10

Honors and awards

Individual Honors

• FIFA World Youth Championship Top Scorer: 1979
• Primera División Argentina topscorer Apertura 1991
• J. League Top Scorer: 1993
• J. League Best Eleven: 1993

Team Honors

• FIFA World Youth Championship Champions: 1979
• Italian Championship 1988-89
• Coupe de France 1991 with AS Monaco
• Primera División Argentina Apertura 1991 with River Plate

External links

• (Spanish) Futbol Factory profile (Archived)
• (Spanish) Managerial statistics at Futbol XXI
• (Spanish) Futbol Pasion statistics

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Luiz Felipe Scolari	Copa Libertadores winning managers 1996	Succeeded by Paulo Autuori