Júnior Enrique Díaz Campbell (born 12 September 1983) is a Costa Rican 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 last played as a

left-back 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 ...

for

LD Alajuelense Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (LDA, ), commonly known as Alajuelense and nicknamed La Liga (), is a Costa Rican multisport club based in the borough of El Llano, Alajuela, Alajuela province. Although they compete in a number of different sports, A ...

. He played for the Costa Rica national team. At a top speed of 33.8 km/h, he was deemed by FIFA as the fastest player of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Born in

Heredia, Costa Rica Heredia () is a district in the Heredia canton of Heredia province, Costa Rica. As the seat of the municipality of Heredia canton, it is awarded the status of city, and by virtue of being the city of the first canton, it is the Province Capital ...

,Junior Díaz: la madurez marcó el rumbo de un niño con convicción
- Nación Díaz started his career at local side

Herediano Club Sport Herediano (), commonly known as Herediano and nicknamed El Team, is a Costa Rican multisport club based in Heredia, Heredia province. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Herediano is mostly known for its association ...

before moving abroad to join Polish side

Wisła Kraków Towarzystwo Sportowe Wisła Kraków Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Wisła Kraków (), is a Polish professional football club based in Kraków. It currently competes in the I liga, the second level of Polish football league system. ...

in January 2008. He moved on to Belgian club Club Brugge in September 2010 and was snapped up by German Bundesliga outfit

FSV Mainz 1. Fußball- und Sportverein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05, Mainz 05 () or simply Mainz (), is a German sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. 1. FSV Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top ...

in summer 2012. In 2015, after three years in Mainz, Díaz joined Darmstadt 98, a newly promoted team for the 2015–16 season.

International career

Júnior Díaz made his Costa Rica national team debut in a friendly against China on 7 September 2003. Díaz made one appearance at

Copa América 2004 Copa or COPA may refer to: COPA COPA may refer to: * Computer Operator Programming Assistant. trade of ITI * Child Online Protection Act, a former U.S. law to protect minors from certain material on the internet * Canadian Owners and Pilots Asso ...

, entering as a second-half substitute against Chile. He appeared in all four matches as Costa Rica won the UNCAF Nations Cup 2005 tournament. Díaz also appeared in one match at the

2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the eighth edition of the Gold Cup, the football championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). It was contested in the United States in July 2005. The United States emerged victorious ...

finals. Díaz was a member of the Costa Rica national team at the 2004 Olympics in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. Ten years later, he became a member of the squad that reached the quarterfinals at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He was crucial in the victory against Italy, as he served a cross to assist

Bryan Ruiz Bryan Jafet Ruiz González (; born 18 August 1985) is a Costa Rican former footballer. A left-footed attacking midfielder, he also played as a second striker. Ruiz is the only Central American footballer to have played in the UEFA Champions ...

's header for the lone goal of the match. In a note for ''

La Nación ''La Nación'' () is an Argentine daily newspaper. As the country's leading conservative newspaper, ''La Nación''s main competitor is the more liberal '' Clarín''. It is regarded as a newspaper of record for Argentina. Its motto is: "''La Na ...

'', Díaz reflected on the assist, stating that "I am sure that, once I retire, many will summarize my career in one single cross."

Personal life

He is a son of former Costa Rica national team footballer Enrique Díaz and Yamileth Campbell, who divorced when he was 12. He has two brothers, Jefferson and Reydel.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Costa Rica's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Díaz goal.''

Honours

Wisła Kraków *

Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 ...

: 2007–08, 2008–09,

2010–11 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. ...

Alajuelense *

Liga FPD The Primera División of Costa Rica, commonly known as Fútbol de Primera División (FPD), and Liga Promerica for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional association football division in Costa Rica. It is administered by the Unión de Clubes ...

: Apertura 2020 *

CONCACAF League The CONCACAF League was an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF as its second-tier continental competition. It was announced on 8 May 2017. The competition uses a knockout cup format with each round having two le ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

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 ...

International * UNCAF Nations Cup: 2005

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz, Junior 1983 births Living people Sportspeople from Heredia Province Men's association football defenders Costa Rican men's footballers Costa Rica men's international footballers Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Costa Rica Costa Rica men's under-20 international footballers 2004 Copa América players 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup players C.S. Herediano footballers Wisła Kraków players Club Brugge KV players 1. FSV Mainz 05 players SV Darmstadt 98 players Würzburger Kickers players Liga Deportiva Alajuelense footballers Ekstraklasa players Belgian Pro League players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Costa Rican expatriate men's footballers Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Poland Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Germany