Diego Tardelli Martins (born 10 May 1985), known as Diego Tardelli, is a Brazilian professional

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 ...

who plays as a forward. He is considered a dynamic player due to his speed on attack and individual skills. ''Tardelli'' is not his last name, but his second name: it was chosen by his father after his footballing idol, Italian World Cup winner

Marco Tardelli Marco Tardelli (; born 24 September 1954) is an Italian former football player and manager. At club level, he played as a midfielder for several Italian clubs; he began his career with Pisa, and later played for Como, Juventus, and Internaziona ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Santa Bárbara d'Oeste Santa Bárbara d'Oeste is a municipality in the State of São Paulo in Brazil. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Campinas. It lies about northwest of the State capital. It occupies an area of , of which is urban. In 2020, the population w ...

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

, Tardelli began his career at a company club in

Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná in Brazil. The city's population was 1,948,626 , making it the eighth most populous city in Brazil and the largest in Brazil's South Region. The Curitiba Metropolitan area ...

called Partner Football. He was loaned to Santos in 2000, but was released after trying to steal chocolate milk from the club's cafeteria. He subsequently joined hometown side União Barbarense, where he impressed enough to move to

in 2003. At the latter club, Tardelli was initially known as '' Dinei'', a former forward of

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-aut ...

, as he also painted his hair of a blond color.

São Paulo

Tardelli made his first team debut for São Paulo on 9 July 2003, coming on as a second-half substitute for

Rico The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO was en ...

in a 2–0 Série A away win over

Coritiba Coritiba Foot Ball Club, commonly known as Coritiba and colloquially referred to as "Coxa-Branca" or "Coxa", is a Brazilian football club from Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest f ...

. He scored his first goal four days later, netting his team's second in a 3–1 win at

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club (), known as Fluminense, is a Brazilian sports club best known for its professional football team that competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the first tier of Brazilian football and the Campeonato Carioca, th ...

. Tardelli subsequently established himself as a regular starter, but was separated from the squad in 2004 for 45 days after arriving late on a training session. He returned to the squad after manager Cuca was replaced by

Émerson Leão Émerson Leão (; born 11 July 1949) is a Brazilian former footballer and manager. He is regarded by pundits as one of best Brazilian goalkeepers of all time. A documentary video produced by FIFA, ''FIFA Fever'', called him the third-most im ...

, and started the 2005 season with ten goals in the first ten matches of the club. After Leão left for the Japanese football, Tardelli's form dropped and he was again separated from the squad in October 2005, after arriving drunk on a training session.

Loans to Betis, São Caetano and PSV

On 12 December 2005, Tardelli agreed to a loan move to

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' ...

side

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

for the remainder of the 2005–06 campaign. He made his debut abroad the following 11 January, starting in a 0–0 home draw against RC Celta de Vigo, for the season's

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 footb ...

. After 15 goalless appearances, Tardelli returned to Brazil and joined São Caetano on loan on 12 July 2006. On 30 August, however, he moved to

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

club PSV in a

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

-long loan deal. Tardelli also struggled to feature regularly at PSV, and returned to ''Tricolor'' in July 2007, where he appeared sparingly for the club and lifted the 2007 Série A.

Flamengo

On 15 January 2008, São Paulo announced the transfer of Tardelli to

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football ...

, after the club paid

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

1 million for his federative rights. After initial controversies with teammate Souza, he was often used as a substitute, but still scored the winning goals in the

Taça Guanabara The Taça Guanabara, or Guanabara Cup, is a football tournament organized annually since 1965 by the Rio de Janeiro State Football Federation. In its first four editions (1965, 1966, 1967 and 1968), the Taça Guanabara was a tournament in its o ...

and Campeonato Carioca finals, both against

Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood ('' bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of ...

. Tardelli was unable to establish himself as a first-choice, and was mainly a backup option to Souza and Obina. He also saw his playing time limited due to an

arm In human anatomy, the arm refers to the upper limb in common usage, although academically the term specifically means the upper arm between the glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint) and the elbow joint. The distal part of the upper limb between th ...

injury in August which left him sidelined for three months.

Atlético Mineiro

Tardelli left Flamengo on 12 January 2009, and subsequently signed for fellow league team

Atlético Mineiro Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

. At ''Galo'', he scored a career-best 39 goals in his first campaign, being the nation's top goalscorer overall; highlights included a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in a 6–0 Campeonato Mineiro home routing of

Uberaba Uberaba () is a city in the state of Minas Gerais, southeast Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Highlands at above sea level on the Uberaba River, and away from the state capital, Belo Horizonte. The city status was granted in 1856, and i ...

on 8 April. Tardelli continued to score in a prolific manner the following seasons, and scored another hat-trick in a 6–0 thrashing of

Ituiutaba Ituiutaba (Brazilian Portuguese: /itujuˈtabɐ/) is a municipality in the western part of Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Elevated to city status in 1901, its population in 2020 was 105,255 and a total area in the municipality of 2,694 km2. Th ...

on 28 March 2010. He played his 100th match for the club on 30 October 2010, in a match against Botafogo. On 12 February 2011, Tardelli scored a hat-trick in a 4–3 away win against fierce rivals Cruzeiro, but was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

late in the match.

Anzhi Makhachkala

On 8 March 2011, Tardelli completed a move to Russian side

Anzhi Makhachkala Football Club Anzhi Makhachkala (russian: link=no, Футбо́льный клуб «Анжи́» Махачкала́, ), known simply as FC Anji, was a Russian professional football club based in the Dagestani capital of Makhachkala. Founded ...

following an in-depth medical examination at the Dagi's pre-season training base. The club reportedly paid

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

7.5 million for his services on a four-year deal. He started in only seven games during the whole campaign, and failed to find the net in his 13 appearances. He was also strongly linked with a move back to his homeland after struggling to adapt to life in Russia.

Al-Gharafa

On 10 January 2012, Tardelli announced that he had put pen to paper on a two-and-a-half-year deal with Qatari side

Al-Gharafa Al-Gharafa Sports Club ( ar, نادي الغرافة الرياضي) is a Qatari multisports club based in the Al Gharrafa district of Al Rayyan. It is best known for its football team, although it also has teams for other sports. It was estab ...

. His transfer fee was reported at €7 million. Tardelli made his debut on 20 January 2012, missing a penalty kick 30 minutes after coming on as a substitute in a 2–0 loss against

Al Khor Al Khor ( ar, الخور; also spelled ''Al Khawr''), officially Al Khor and Al Thakhira, is a municipality in coastal northeastern Qatar. Al Khor City, the municipal seat, is located in the northeast coast of Qatar, around from the capital, ...

. On his second-ever AFC Champions League match, he scored a brace in order to salvage a draw against

Al-Hilal FC Al Hilal Saudi Football Club ( ar, نادي الهلال السعودي), simply known as Al Hilal, is a professional multi-sports club based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Their football team competes in the Saudi Professional League. They are the m ...

on 21 March.

Return to Atlético Mineiro

On 18 January 2013, Tardelli rejoined Atlético Mineiro on loan until the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The value of the negotiation was undisclosed. On 27 January, Tardelli confirmed the negotiations were nearly over, only waiting for a new player to arrive at his current club and by 31 January, the negotiation is complete and he joined Atlético Mineiro. Finally, on 2 February 2013, Alexandre Kalil, president of Atlético, announced the return of Tardelli. The deal is around €5.25 million with a four-year contract. Tardelli was a regular starter for ''Galo'' during his first season, helping the club to a first-ever Copa Libertadores title and being the second-best goalscorer in the campaign with 18 goals, only one behind

Jô João Alves de Assis Silva (born 20 March 1987), known as Jô () or João Alves, is a Brazilian professional footballer. He has previously played for Nagoya Grampus, CSKA Moscow, Manchester City, Everton, Galatasaray, Internacional, Atlétic ...

. He also lifted the Recopa Sudamericana and the

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil ( en, Brazil Cup) is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de P ...

with the side in the following year, scoring goals in both tournaments' finals.

Shandong Luneng

On 17 January 2015, Tardelli joined Chinese club

Shandong Luneng Shandong Taishan Football Club () is a professional football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Jinan, Shandong and their home stadium is th ...

. On 14 February 2015, he made his official debut in the

2015 Chinese FA Super Cup Chang'an Ford 2015 Chinese FA Super Cup (Chinese language, Chinese: 长安福特2015中国足球协会超级杯) was the 13th Chinese FA Super Cup. The match was sponsored by Changan Ford Mazda, Changan Ford Mazda Automobile Co., Ltd. and played at ...

against

Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao Guangzhou Football Club, formerly known as Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao Football Club, is a professional Chinese football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under the license of the Chinese Football Association. The team is based ...

. On 13 July 2015, Tardelli scored two goals in a match against Shijiazhuang Ever Bright. A regular starter, he impressed during the

2018 Chinese Super League The 2018 Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League () was the 15th season since the establishment of the Chinese Super League. The league title sponsor was Ping An Insurance. Shanghai SIPG won their first top-tier league titles on 7 Novemb ...

after scoring 17 goals.

Grêmio

On 12 February 2019, Tardelli joined Brazilian club Grêmio on a three-year contract. On 16 January 2020, after being severely criticized by the club's supporters and president, he terminated his contract.

Second return to Atlético Mineiro

On 12 February 2020, Tardelli joined

for the third time on a free transfer. In July, he suffered an

ankle The ankle, or the talocrural region, or the jumping bone (informal) is the area where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle includes three joints: the ankle joint proper or talocrural joint, the subtalar joint, and the inferior tibiofibular joi ...

injury which sidelined him for the remainder of the year; he returned to action in February 2021. Tardelli left the club in May of the following year, as his contract was due to expire.

Santos

On 23 August 2021, Tardelli signed a contract with Santos until the end of the year, with an option to extend it for a further five months. On 10 December, after one goal in 13 appearances, he departed the club.

International career

Tardelli was called up by Brazilian coach

Dunga Carlos Caetano Bledorn Verri (born 31 October 1963), known as Dunga (), is a Brazilian football manager and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. Under his captaincy, Brazil won the 1994 FIFA World Cup and he lifte ...

on 28 July 2009 for a friendly match against

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

on 12 August. This was his first ever call up to the Brazil national team. On 11 May 2010, he was called up to the

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 ...

squad as one of the seven backup players. In October 2013, in a great shape playing for Atlético Mineiro, Tardelli said on being left out from manager

Luiz Felipe Scolari Luiz Felipe Scolari (; born 9 November 1948), also known as Felipão ("Big Phil"), is a Brazilian football manager and former player. He is the current manager of Athletico Paranaense. Scolari was a defender during his playing days, and no ...

international squad, "Now, again, football professionals have asked my calling up. I did not give up yet, I keep working, who knows about Brazilian team is Felipão colarior who is inside there can watch my phase." On 11 October 2014, in the

2014 Superclásico de las Américas The 2014 Superclásico de las Américas – Copa Doctor Nicolás Leoz was the 3rd edition of the Superclásico de las Américas. The match was played at Beijing National Stadium in Beijing, China. This was the first time the competition had taken ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, he scored both goals of a 2–0 victory against

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 ...

. On 28 May 2015, Tardelli was included in Brazil's 23-man squad for the

2015 Copa América The 2015 Copa América was the 44th edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America, and took place in Chile between 11 June and 4 July 2015. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, ...

by coach Dunga. On 15 October 2017, he was called by manager Tite to games against Bolivia and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Brazil's goal tally first.'' , - , 1. , , rowspan="2", 11 October 2014 , , rowspan="2", Beijing National Stadium,

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Allianz Parque Allianz Parque (), also known as Palestra Itália Arena, is a multipurpose stadium in São Paulo, Brazil, built to receive shows, concerts, corporate events, and especially football matches of Palmeiras, the site owner. The stadium has a capac ...

, Brazil , , , , , , , , Friendly , ,

Honours

Club

São Paulo * Campeonato Paulista: 2005 * Copa Libertadores: 2005 * Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 2007 PSV *

: 2006–07 Flamengo *

: 2008 * Campeonato Carioca: 2008 Atlético Mineiro * Campeonato Mineiro: 2010,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

* Copa Libertadores:

* Recopa Sudamericana:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Al-Gharafa *

Emir of Qatar Cup Emir of Qatar Cup ( ar, كأس أمير قطر), also known as the Emir Cup, but changed to Amir Cup starting in 2019, is an association football tournament played every season by 18 first and second division teams. The most successful is Al Sad ...

: 2012 Shandong Luneng *

Chinese FA Super Cup The Chinese FA Super Cup (), formerly named Chinese Football Super Cup (), is a pre-season football competition held before the season begins in China. It is a Chinese football championship contested by the winners of top division of Profession ...

: 2015 Grêmio *

Campeonato Gaúcho The Campeonato Gaúcho Série A1 (Gaúcho Championship A1 Series or Série A1), officially named as Campeonato da Primeira Divisão de Futebol Profissional da FGF - Divisão Especial - Série A1 and commonly known as Campeonato Gaúcho or Gauchã ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

International

Brazil * Superclásico de las Américas:

Individual

* Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Team of the Year: 2009,

* Campeonato Brasileiro Série A top goalscorer: 2009 * Arthur Friedenreich Award: 2009

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tardelli, Diego 1985 births Living people People from Santa Bárbara d'Oeste Association football forwards Association football midfielders Brazilian footballers Brazilian people of Italian descent Brazil youth international footballers Brazil under-20 international footballers Brazil international footballers Brazilian expatriate footballers São Paulo FC players Real Betis players Associação Desportiva São Caetano players PSV Eindhoven players CR Flamengo footballers Clube Atlético Mineiro players FC Anzhi Makhachkala players Al-Gharafa SC players Shandong Taishan F.C. players Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense players Santos FC players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Eredivisie players La Liga players Russian Premier League players Qatar Stars League players Chinese Super League players Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Russia Expatriate footballers in Qatar Expatriate footballers in China Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in China 2015 Copa América players Footballers from São Paulo (state)