Daniel Alberto "Cata" Díaz (born 13 July 1979) is an Argentine professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager and former player who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. After starting at

Rosario Central Club Atlético Rosario Central () is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina, that plays in the Argentine Primera División. The club was officially founded on December 24, 1889, by a group of railway workers, taking its name from the Englis ...

, he went on to spend most of his career in Spain, amassing

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

totals of 174 matches and three goals over six seasons, mainly with

Getafe Getafe () is a municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city centre, within a flat ar ...

. He also had two spells with

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

. Díaz appeared for

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

at the

2007 Copa América The 2007 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, known simply as the 2007 Copa América or 2007 Copa América Venezuela, was the 42nd edition of the Copa América, the South-American championship for international association football teams. The c ...

Club career

Nicknamed ''Cata'' because of his origins from

San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca () is the capital and largest city in Catamarca Province in Argentine Northwest, northwestern Argentina, on the Río Valle River, at the feet of the Cerro Ambato. The city name is normally shortened as Catamarc ...

, Díaz started playing at youth amateur local Juventud de Catamarca before moving in 1997 to

, still as a junior. Three years later, he first appeared professionally with the latter team. Díaz moved to

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul or simply Cruz Azul () is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in the Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Because "azul" means "blue" in Spanish, the club has traditionally ...

in 2003. After only one season with the Mexican club, he returned to Argentina to become

Alfio Basile Alfio () is an Italian given name. Notable people with the name include: * Alfio Basile, Argentina football coach * Alfio Bonanno, Australian tenor * Alfio Caltabiano, Italian actor * Alfio Contini, Italian cinematographer * Alfio Fazio, Italian c ...

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Colón de Santa Fe Colón may refer to: Places ;Argentina * Colón, Entre Ríos * Colón Department, Córdoba * Colón Department, Entre Ríos * Colón, Buenos Aires ;Colombia * Colón, Nariño * Colón, Putumayo * Colón Department (Colombia) ;Costa Rica * Ciu ...

; he subsequently drew attention from Argentine giants

and

Club Atlético River Plate Club Atlético River Plate, commonly known as River Plate, is an Argentine professional sports club based in the Núñez, Buenos Aires, Núñez neighborhood of Buenos Aires. Founded in 1901, the club is named after the English name for the city ...

, 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 Club Atlético Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy , (usually known as Gimnasia de Jujuy or just GEJ) is an Argentine sports club based in San Salvador de Jujuy, Jujuy Province. The club was founded in 1931 and is best known for its football team, whi ...

, and was a big part in the side's 2005 ''Apertura''-winning campaign. He added the South American Supercup (win over

Once Caldas Once Caldas S.A., simply known as Once Caldas, is a professional Colombian football team based in Manizales, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Palogrande stadium. They were the surprise winners ...

of Colombia), and the

South American Cup The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American ...

(defeat of Mexico's

Club Universidad Nacional Club Universidad Nacional, A.C., commonly referred to as UNAM, is a professional football club based in Ciudad Universitaria of Mexico City, Mexico. The club competes in the Liga MX, the top division in the Mexican football league system. Fo ...

). In the middle of 2007, Díaz moved to Spain's

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol (), or simply Getafe, is a professional football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. The team competes in La Liga, the highest tier of the Spanish football system. The club's home stadium (owned and op ...

for €4 million, being a defensive cornerstone from the very beginning as the

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

outskirts team reached the quarter-finals of the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

in 2007–08. During his spell at the

Coliseum Alfonso Pérez Estadio Coliseum Alfonso Pérez () is a municipally-owned football (soccer), football stadium in Getafe, Spain. It is the home ground of Getafe CF. Stadium The stadium was built in 1998 and currently, after several extensions, it has a capacity ...

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. On 15 June 2012, at nearly 33, Díaz signed with fellow

side

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

for two years and €1 million. He was scarcely used during his only campaign by compatriot

Diego Simeone Diego Pablo Simeone González (; ; born 28 April 1970, nicknamed El Cholo (), is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder; he has been the manager of Atlético Madrid since December 2011. In his cl ...

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 The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

at the age of 37. On 1 September of the following year, after leaving the club due to his wife's direct criticism of manager

José Bordalás José "Pepe" Bordalás Jiménez (born 5 March 1964) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a striker, currently a manager. His playing career ended due to injury without a first-team appearance for Hércules, and he made his professiona ...

, he joined

CF Fuenlabrada Club de Fútbol Fuenlabrada, S.A.D. is a football club based in Fuenlabrada, Community of Madrid, Spain, that currently competes in Primera División RFEF – Group 1, the third tier of the Spanish league system. It was founded in 1975. It holds ...

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

. Díaz announced his retirement in February 2019, due to personal reasons. He went back on his decision shortly after, however, and signed with

Club Atlético Nueva Chicago Club Atlético Nueva Chicago is an Argentine sports club based in Mataderos, a neighborhood in the west side of Buenos Aires, formerly called "Nueva Chicago". The club's nickname, ''El Torito'' ("The Little Bull") is an allusion to legendary 1930s ...

of the

Primera B Nacional Primera Nacional (usually called simply Nacional B, in English "National B Division", and known as Primera B Nacional until the 2019–20 season) is the second division of the Argentine football league system. The competition is made up of 37 tea ...

International career

Díaz made his first appearance with the Argentina national team in 2003, and was called to the

squad as the nation finished second in Venezuela. On 6 June 2009, in a

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

qualifier In linguistics, a modifier is an optional element in phrase structure or clause structure which ''modifies'' the meaning of another element in the structure. For instance, the adjective "red" acts as a modifier in the noun phrase "red ball", provi ...

against

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

, he scored his first and only international goal, finding the net in the 57th minute for a 1–0 home win; he would be, however, overlooked for the final stages in South Africa.

Coaching and later career

On 29 November 2019, Díaz's contract expired and he retired for the second and definitive time. Subsequently, it was reported he was going to be named

Miguel Ángel Russo Miguel Ángel Russo (born 9 April 1956) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who played as a defensive midfielder. He is the current manager of Rosario Central. Playing career Club career Russo was a one club man; ...

's assistant at Boca Juniors, but he ended up joining the reserves in the same capacity, under

Blas Giunta Blas Armando Giunta Rodríguez (born 6 September 1963, in Buenos Aires) is an Argentina, Argentine former Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder and current youth coach at Boca Juniors. Career Giunta started his playing car ...

. However, 41-year old Cata, left the position at the end of September 2020 and came out of retirement, to play for Spanish club

CD Móstoles URJC Club Deportivo Móstoles URJC, formerly CDE El Soto and CD Juventud Móstoles, is a Spanish football team based in Móstoles, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1996, it plays in Segunda División RFEF - Group 1, holding home gam ...

. He announced his retirement again on 23 May 2021. In the summer 2021, he returned to

in a management-role, collaborating in different aspects.¿Quiénes son y qué hacen los exjugadores que trabajan en Boca junto a Riquelme?
goal.com, 27 July 2021

Honours

Club

Boca Juniors *

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). Th ...

: Apertura 2005, Clausura 2006, 2015 Primera División *

Copa Argentina The Copa Argentina (English: ''Argentine Cup''), officially known as the "Copa Argentina AXION energy" due to sponsorship reasons, is an official football cup competition organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA), with the aim of qual ...

: 2014–15 *

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana ( pt, CONMEBOL Recopa Sul-Americana), known also as the Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as the Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club association football, football compe ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American ...

Atlético Madrid *

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

International

Argentina *

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

runner-up:

References

External links

*
Argentine League statistics

Career details
at

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz, Cata 1979 births Living people Copa Libertadores-winning players People from Catamarca Province Argentine men's footballers Men's association football defenders Argentine Primera División players Primera Nacional players Rosario Central footballers Club Atlético Colón footballers Boca Juniors footballers Club Atlético Nueva Chicago footballers Liga MX players Cruz Azul footballers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Getafe CF footballers Atlético Madrid footballers CF Fuenlabrada footballers CD Móstoles URJC players Argentina men's international footballers 2007 Copa América players Argentine expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain