Antonio Díaz Jurado (4 August 1969 – 27 April 2013) was a Spanish 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 lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Club career

Born in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, Díaz started playing with

Real Madrid Castilla Real Madrid Castilla Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team that plays in . It is Real Madrid's reserve team. They play their home games at the Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium with a capacity of 6,000 seats. Reserve teams in Spain play in the ...

, moving in 1992 to neighbouring club

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. They compete in La Liga, the top tier of the Football in Spain, Spanish football. The team has pla ...

. He started his professional career in 1994–95, helping

UD Salamanca Unión Deportiva Salamanca, S.A.D. () was a historical Spanish football team based in Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 February 1923 and nicknamed ''Los Charros'', the club played in white shirts and black ...

promote to

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

in the playoffs. At the professional level, Díaz also represented

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football. The team's ...

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Villarreal, in the Province of Castellón, Castellón province of easte ...

and

SD Compostela Sociedade Deportiva Compostela is a Spanish football team based in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia. They play home matches at San Lázaro, and compete in . History A team called Compostela Foot-ball Club was founded in 1928, ceasing to exist ...

, playing with all the clubs in

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

and the second in the top flight in the 1998–99 season. He made his debut in the latter competition on 31 August 1998, starting in a 1–4 away loss against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

. Díaz retired in June 2005 at nearly 36 after spells in the lower leagues, including the 2001–02 campaign with

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol (), known simply as Granada or ''"Graná"'', is a professional List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that currently plays in Segunda ...

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: 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 ...

Later life and death

After retiring, Díaz returned to Villarreal, working as youth teams manager. He died on 27 April 2013 at the age of 43, due to unknown causes.

Honours

: 1993–94

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz, Antonio 1969 births 2013 deaths Footballers from Madrid Spanish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Real Madrid Castilla footballers Getafe CF footballers UD Salamanca players CA Osasuna players Villarreal CF players SD Compostela footballers Granada CF footballers Águilas CF players 20th-century Spanish sportsmen