Ribas da Cunha, Diego

Santos

Born in Ribeirão Preto, Sao Paulo, at the age of 12, he signed a contract with Santos , a team from Sao Paulo . At the age of 16 he made his debut for the main team in the Brazilian Championship . In the same year, his club became the champion of Brazil.

Porto

In 2004, Porto bought Diego from Santos, hoping to replace the young Brazilian who had gone to Barcelona Barcelona . In his first season in Europe, Diego regularly went base, and was a significant player Porto. However, in the 2005/06 season, under Ko Adrianse , he rarely got into the lineup, which did not suit him, and, as a result, at the end of the season, Diego decided to leave Portugal.

Werder Bremen

2006/07 season

In May 2006, Diego signed a contract with the Bremen " Werder " until 2010. The transfer amount was 6 million euros.

Diego held the first match for Werder Bremen on August 5 in the German League Cup final. His new club beat Bayern Munich 2-0.

The 2006/07 Bundesliga season was good for Diego. On August 13, he scored a goal and took part in two other balls in a match against Hannover 96 (4: 2). And in the second match, against Bayer Leverkusen (2: 1), he twice assisted his partners. Due to this, already in August, Diego was recognized as Player of the Month in the Bundesliga.

And throughout the season, Diego showed a good game, becoming the most valuable player on the team, along with his teammate Torsten Frings . In October and December 2006, Diego was again recognized as a player of the month, and then became the best in the first half of the season. Due to his success, in November, Diego was called to the Brazilian national team .

That season Werder took third place in Group A at the Champions League group stage and continued to play in the UEFA Cup , where he reached the semifinals, beating the Dutch AZ in the quarterfinals, largely due to Diego’s creative game.

On April 15, Diego scored a goal against Borussia Dortmund . And on April 20, in the match against Alemania (3: 1), Diego hit the opponents' goal from a distance of 62.5 meters. Later, this goal was recognized as the best of the season.

At the end of the 2006/07 season, Diego received the Best Player of the Bundesliga Season award, gaining more than 50 percent of the vote. Unfortunately, the Brazilian Werder finished the season only in third place, losing to the champion Stuttgart and Schalke 04 .

2007/08 season

Diego started the season well again, having implemented two penalties in the first match against Dynamo from Zagreb . His success was important for the team, since after this victory Werder made it into the Champions League group stage.

But in the very first match of the group stage, Werder lost to Real Madrid in Madrid 2: 1. Nevertheless, the performance of Diego aroused interest from the head coach of Bernd Schuster of Madrid. But all conversations ceased after Diego signed a new contract with Werder Bremen until 2011.

In the same season, Bremen won a historic victory over Arminia with a score of 8: 1. Diego made 3 assists and scored a goal. In September, he was recognized as a player of the month.

2008/09 season

The last season of Diego in Werder was for him the most successful. He scored 22 goals, which is more than in his first two seasons. Diego's game can be assessed excellently, even though the Bremen team finished the German championship only in 10th place, and took only third place in the Champions League group, hitting the UEFA Cup, in which the Brazilian scored 6 goals.

At the 1/16 final stage, his goal at the last minutes of the match helped Bremen to avoid defeat in the confrontation with Milan , and, thanks to a goal in a foreign field, allowed the “musicians” to continue their journey in this tournament.

The quarterfinal was a benefit performance of Diego, who in a two-round standoff with Udinese , scored 4 out of 6 goals of his team and once assisted his partner.

In the semifinals, after a home defeat against Hamburg , Werder won the away match 3: 2, yielding during the game. Diego made an assist pass, after which the Bremen scored their third goal. By the time the Brazilian already knew that because of the next yellow card, he could not help his team in the final.

Without Diego, the team game of Bremen was “lost” in the finals, and they lost in extra time to Shakhtar 2: 1.

In his last match for Werder Bremen, Diego assisted Mesut Ozila , who scored a goal and brought the 6th German Cup to Werder Bremen.

Juventus

2009/10 season

On May 26, 2009, Diego joined the Italian club Juventus for 24.5 million euros (+2.5 million euros for possible sporting achievements in a team), signing a contract until June 30, 2014 ^[3] .

July 9, he was presented to fans and journalists as a player turintsev . Diego received a T-shirt with number 28. The number was chosen because the sum of 2 and 8 is 10, and this is the favorite number of the Brazilian, but in Juventus he was occupied by captain Alessandro Del Piero . Also 28 is Diego's birth date.

In the debut match in Serie A against Chievo , Diego scored an assist. On August 30, in the match against Roma , Diego not only scored his first goal for Juventus, but also made a double. That season Diego also hit the gates of Atalanta , Bologna and Fiorentina . In matches for the Italian Cup, Diego scored two goals, disappointing " Napoli " and " Inter ."

Following the results of 2009, Diego was included in the list of candidates for the Golden Ball , and, together with team-mate Gianluigi Buffon , was included in the list of players of the year according to FIFA

Wolfsburg

2010/11 season

August 26, 2010 signed a 4-year contract with the German club " Wolfsburg " ^{[4] [5]} . The transfer amount was € 15.5 million ^[6] . Brazilian debut in the Bundesliga took place in the first round, where "Wolfsburg" took "Mainz" . In that match, the wolves lost with a score of 3: 4. Diego scored one goal in 30 minutes of the match, and also received a yellow card. Diego scored the second goal in the Bundesliga in the third round against Hannover , and Wolfsburg achieved the first victory in the championship (2: 0). In the sixth round, the Brazilian made two assists on partners. Due to which the "wolves" won - 2: 1. On February 25, Diego made a double at the gate of Borussia from Mönchengladbach , bringing victory to Wolfsburg - 2: 1. Before the last round, the Brazilian left the location of the team, dissatisfied with the decision of the head coach of the club, Felix Magath , about not including him in the first team. For this, he was fined 500 thousand euros ^[7] . On June 24, 2011, Wolfsburg announced its breakup with Diego. ^[8] In total, Diego played 30 matches in the championship (all at the start), spent 2631 minutes on the field, scored 6 goals, gave 7 assists and was marked with seven yellow cards. Wolfsburg took the 15th place. At the end of the season, Diego changed the club, going on loan to Atletico Madrid .

Atletico Madrid

Season 2011/12

On August 31, 2011, Atletico Madrid agreed with Wolfsburg on the lease of Diego ^[9] . The Brazilian immediately entrenched in the main part of the "mattress". And he began to play one of the key roles in the team, playing in the position under the attacker. Diego's debut for the club in the championship of Spain took place in the 3rd round. In which the “Madrid” suffered a defeat from one of the main rivals for the 3rd place - “Valencia” (0: 1). The first goal in Example Diego scored in the 13th round against Levant , bringing his team victory (3: 2). In the 15th round, the Brazilian gave his first scoring pass in the championship at Falcao . The second goal in Example Diego scored in the 19th round against Villarreal (3: 0). In total, Diego played in the championship in 30 matches (27 at the base and was replaced 15), spent 2202 minutes on the field, scored three goals, gave three scoring passes and received 8 yellow cards. In the championship "mattress" finished in 5th place, which for the club was not a success. In the Europa League things went better. Having left the group, Atletico beat Lazio in 1/16, Besiktas in 1/8, Hannover-96 in 1/4. In the semifinals "Atletico" sorted out "Valencia" (4: 2 and 1: 0) and reached the final. In the final, “Madrid” easily beat Athletic (3-0) and won the tournament for the second time in three seasons. In LE, Diego played a crucial role in winning the title (scored goals, assists, developed attacks). The Brazilian played in 12 matches (11 at the base, was replaced 8 times), played 951 minutes, scored three goals (one of them in the final), made 8 assists (one was in the final) and received a yellow card twice. After the season, Diego, who belonged to "Wolfsburg", again went to Germany, settling a conflict with the head coach of the "wolves" - Felix Magath .

Wolfsburg

2012/13 season

After a one-year lease at Atletico Madrid, Diego, settling the conflict with Felix Magath , returned to the location of Wolfsburg. Despite the great interest from many clubs, Diego stated in an interview:

“I think that next season I will play for Wolfsburg.” My contract with this club is valid for two more years ” ^[10] .

Also Brazilian added:

“I'm glad I was given a second chance. I am very grateful to my teammates for trusting me. I hope that the fans will give me a chance. I promise you that I will lead the team forward in Europe. But I hope for your support " ^[11]

. The first match after the return of Diego to the camp of the “wolves” was the game of the first round, in which “Wolfsburg” won against “Stuttgart” - 0: 1. The Brazilian spent on the field all 90 minutes. The first goal for the "wolves" Diego scored on October 27, hitting the gates of the Düsseldorf Fortuna . In the same game, Diego gave an assist on Ivica Olic , and Wolfsburg achieved a confident victory with a score of 4: 1. On November 11, Diego made a double in the game against one of the championship leader, Bayer . That match "wolves" won - 3: 1. On December 8, in the last match before the winter holidays, Diego scored a goal and gave twice to assist the partners at Signal Iduna Park in a game against the champion of the last two years - Borussia Dortmund . Effective playmaker's actions helped the “wolves” to win a sensational 3: 2 victory. On January 19, Diego scored a goal and gave an assist on Alexander Madlung in the game against Stuttgart . In the match, "Wolfsburg" achieved victory - 3: 2.

Diego made his national team debut during the America's Cup 2004 , where he helped beat Brazil by scoring a goal in a penalty shootout against Argentina .

After moving to Porto in July 2004, Diego did not get a permanent place in the first team. Therefore, he did not get into the application of the Brazilian national team at the 2006 World Cup . However, he later played in a friendly match against England , where, coming on as a substitute, equalized the score at the last minute.

In 2008, Diego won bronze medals in the Brazilian Olympic team at the Beijing Olympics football tournament .

In January 2017, he returned to the Brazil national team to play a friendly match with Colombia, in which only players from South American clubs took part.

Diego has Italian roots. His great-grandfather and paternal grandmother immigrated to Brazil from Italy. This allowed Diego in 2004 to obtain an Italian passport.

(corrected as of February 7, 2014)

  Santos

• Champion of Brazil (2): 2002 , 2004

  Porto

• Champion of Portugal (1): 2006
• Portuguese Cup Winner (1): 2006
• Intercontinental Cup Winner (1): 2004
• Winner Winner of the Supercup Portugal (1): 2004

  "Werder"

• Winner Winner of the German Cup (1): 2009
• Winner of the German League Cup (1): 2006
• Germany Super Cup Winner (1): 2009
• UEFA Cup Finalist: 2009

  Atletico Madrid

• European League Winner (1): 2012
• Champion of Spain (1): 2013/2014
• UEFA Champions League Finalist : 2013/2014

  Fenerbahce

• Super Cup Winner Turkey (1): 2014

  Flamengo

•   Champion of the State of Rio de Janeiro (1): 2017
•   Brazilian Cup Finalist (1): 2017
• Finalist of the South American Cup (1): 2017

  Brazil national team

• South American Champion Under 17 (1): 2001
• America's Cup Winner (2): 2004 , 2007
• Olympic bronze medalist (1): 2008

• Brazilian Silver Ball Winner: 2002

• (English)
• Player Profile (English) on Transfermarkt
• Profile on the site Soccerway (eng.)
• Official site (eng.) (It.) (Port.)
• Profile on the official Juventus website
• Profile on Sports.ru