Cata Díaz

Daniel Alberto 'Cata' Díaz (born 13 July 1979) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a central defender, and the current assistant manager of Boca Juniors' reserve team.

Cata Díaz
Díaz with Boca Juniors in 2016
Personal information
Full name Daniel Alberto Díaz
Date of birth (1979-07-13) 13 July 1979
Place of birth San Fernando del Valle, Argentina
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position(s) Centre back
Club information
Current team
 Boca Juniors B (assistant)
Youth career
Juventud Catamarca
1997–1999 Rosario Central
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2003 Rosario Central 97 (2)
2003–2004 Cruz Azul 46 (1)
2004–2005 Colón 35 (2)
2005–2007 Boca Juniors 67 (7)
2007–2012 Getafe 165 (3)
2012–2013 Atlético Madrid 9 (0)
2013–2016 Boca Juniors 77 (6)
2016–2017 Getafe 38 (0)
2017–2019 Fuenlabrada 58 (1)
2019 Nueva Chicago 13 (0)
Total 605 (22)
National team
2003–2009 Argentina 12 (1)
Teams managed
2020– Boca Juniors B (assistant)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

After starting at Rosario Central he went on to spend most of his career in Spain, amassing La Liga totals of 174 matches and three goals over six seasons, mainly with Getafe. He also had two spells with Boca Juniors.

Díaz appeared for Argentina at the 2007 Copa América.

Club career
Díaz in action for Getafe in 2012

Nicknamed Cata because of his origins from San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca, Díaz started playing at youth amateur local Juventud de Catamarca before moving in 1997 to Rosario Central, still as a junior. Three years later, he first appeared professionally with the latter team.

Díaz moved to Cruz Azul in 2003. After only one season with the Mexican club, he returned to Argentina to become Alfio Basile's captain in Colón de Santa Fe; he subsequently drew attention from Argentine giants Boca Juniors and Club Atlético River Plate, but as Basile was at that time the former's coach, the player decided to make the move for around US$3 million.

Díaz made his debut for Boca in a 4–1 victory over Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy, and was a big part in the side's 2005 Apertura-winning campaign. He added the South American Supercup (win over Once Caldas of Colombia), and the South American Cup (defeat of Mexico's Club Universidad Nacional).

In the middle of 2007, Díaz moved to Spain's Getafe CF for €4 million, being a defensive cornerstone from the very beginning as the Madrid outskirts team reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup in 2007–08. During his spell at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez he rarely missed one game when healthy – for instance, in his third season, he appeared in 30 matches (2,700 minutes of action) to help them finish sixth and qualify for the Europa League.[1][2]

On 15 June 2012, at nearly 33, Díaz signed with fellow La Liga side Atlético Madrid for two years and €1 million.[3][4] He was scarcely used during his only campaign by compatriot Diego Simeone[5][6] and, subsequently, returned to his homeland and Boca.

On 23 July 2016, Díaz returned to Getafe after agreeing to a one-year deal for his first experience in Segunda División at the age of 37.[7] On 1 September of the following year, after leaving the club due to his wife's direct criticism of manager José Bordalás,[8] he joined CF Fuenlabrada of Segunda División B.[9]

Díaz announced his retirement in February 2019, due to personal reasons.[10] He went back on his decision shortly after, however, and signed with Club Atlético Nueva Chicago of the Primera B Nacional.[11]

On 29 November 2019, Díaz's contract expired and he retired for the second and definitive time.[12] Subsequently, it was reported he was going to be named Miguel Ángel Russo's assistant at Boca Juniors, but he ended up joining the reserves in the same capacity, under Blas Giunta.[13][14]

International career

Díaz made his first appearance with the Argentina national team in 2003, and was called to the 2007 Copa América squad as the nation finished second in Venezuela.[15] On 6 June 2009, in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Colombia, he scored his first and only international goal, finding the net in the 57th minute for a 1–0 home win;[16] he would be, however, overlooked for the final stages in South Africa.

Honours

Club

Boca Juniors

Atlético Madrid

International

Argentina

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References
  1. Díaz, el "Ironman" de la Liga BBVA (Díaz, BBVA League's Ironman); ESPN Deportes, 18 February 2012 (in Spanish)
  2. Ni un minuto sin El Cata (Not one minute without Cata); Marca, 2 March 2012 (in Spanish)
  3. El Atletico de Madrid ficha al Cata Díaz (Atletico de Madrid sign Cata Díaz); Marca, 15 June 2012 (in Spanish)
  4. Atletico Madrid signs Daniel Diaz from Getafe Archived 20 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine; Footballcracy, 18 June 2012
  5. Cata Díaz: "Simeone ha demostrado la valía con números y títulos" (Cata Díaz: "Simeone has shown his worth with numbers and titles"); Marca, 19 December 2012 (in Spanish)
  6. El calvario del Cata Díaz (Cata Díaz's ordeal); Vavel, 20 July 2013 (in Spanish)
  7. Cata Díaz vuelve a su casa (Cata Díaz returns to his home); Getafe CF, 23 July 2016 (in Spanish)
  8. Cata Díaz dejará de ser del Geta tras la rajada de su mujer (Cata Díaz will leave Geta after his wife's rant); Diario AS, 25 August 2017 (in Spanish)
  9. Comunicado: El C.F. Fuenlabrada incorpora a Cata Díaz (Announcement: C.F. Fuenlabrada sign Cata Díaz); CF Fuenlabrada, 1 September 2017 (in Spanish)
  10. El Cata Díaz se retira tras 593 partidos por motivos personales (Cata Díaz retires after 593 matches for personal reasons); Diario AS, 11 February 2019 (in Spanish)
  11. El 'Cata' Díaz firma con Nueva Chicago y vuelve al fútbol argentino ('Cata' Díaz signs with Nueva Chicago and returns to Argentine football); Marca, 1 July 2019 (in Spanish)
  12. El Cata Díaz le dijo adiós a Nueva Chicago: rescindió su contrato (Cata Díaz said goodbye to Nueva Chicago: contract terminated); Clarín, 29 November 2019 (in Spanish)
  13. Cata Díaz ya tiene acordado su regreso a Boca (Cata Díaz has already agreed on return to Boca); Bola VIP, 2 January 2020 (in Spanish)
  14. Boca: Cata Díaz se suma al cuerpo técnico de Blas Giunta en Cuarta División (Boca: Cata Díaz added to Blas Giunta's coaching staff in Fourth Division); Buenos Días Chaco, 5 January 2020 (in Spanish)
  15. Basile incluyó a Riquelme y Messi en nómina argentina para Copa América (Basile included Riquelme and Messi in Argentinian squad for Copa América); El Mercurio, 21 June 2007 (in Spanish)
  16. Sólo para pragmáticos (Only for the pragmatic); ESPN, 7 June 2009 (in Spanish)
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