Diego Mainz García (born 29 December 1982) is a Spanish former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a central defender. He spent most of his 15-year professional career with Rayo Vallecano and

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

, appearing in 171 competitive matches with the latter club and totalling La Liga 129 games with both.

Club career

Rayo and Albacete

Born in Madrid, Mainz started his career at local Rayo Vallecano, going on to collect 36 appearances in La Liga (18 apiece from 2001 to 2003), his first being on 27 October as he played the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 home win against Deportivo de La Coruña. In summer 2007, as the capital side had slumped to

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 ...

, he joined Albacete Balompié in the

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 ...

Granada

After two seasons as first choice, Mainz was bought by Italy's Udinese Calcio, but was immediately transferred back to Spain with lowly Granada CF – eight other players made the same season-long move, after the two clubs' partnership agreement. With the Andalusians, he quickly established himself as an important player, helping to consecutive promotions in his first two seasons. Mainz, who acted as

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 ...

when available, scored his first goal in the top flight on 20 March 2012, but in a 5–3 away loss to FC Barcelona. He finished the campaign with 21 appearances in 1,780 minutes, to help his team to retain their league status. During 2014–15, Mainz netted three times in his own net. He added a further three in the other end, however, and the ''Nazaríes'' again managed to stay afloat; additionally, in a

mist Mist is a phenomenon caused by small droplets of water suspended in the cold air, usually by condensation. Physically, it is an example of a dispersion. It is most commonly seen where water vapor in warm, moist air meets sudden cooling, such a ...

y night on 17 December 2014, he scored at

Córdoba CF Córdoba Club de Fútbol (), (from the 2020–21 season onwards competing under the umbrella of Unión Futbolística Cordobesa, S.A.D.) is a Spanish football club based in Córdoba, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1951 as ...

to help the visitors to a 1–1 draw in the Copa del Rey and the subsequent 2–1 aggregate qualification.

International career

Mainz played once with the Spain under-21 team, featuring the second half of the 3–0

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

win over Slovenia in

Ourense Ourense (; es, Orense ) is a city and capital of the province of Ourense, located in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, northwestern Spain. It is on the Camino Sanabrés path of the Way of St ...

.Los Sub'21 tumban a Eslovenia con tres golpes (The Under'21s down Slovenia with three blows)
El Mundo, 15 October 2002

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mainz, Diego 1982 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Madrid Men's association football central defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Rayo Vallecano players Albacete Balompié players Granada CF footballers Udinese Calcio players Spain men's under-21 international footballers