Diogo Luís Santo
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Diogo Luís Santo (born 26 May 1987), known simply as Diogo, is a Brazilian retired professional footballer who played as a striker. After starting out at Portuguesa, he spent most of his career in the
Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...
with Olympiacos – having signed in 2008 – and in the Thai League 1 with Buriram United.


Club career


Brazil

Born in
São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
, Diogo started his football career at
Associação Portuguesa de Desportos Associação Portuguesa de Desportos, commonly referred to as Portuguesa or Lusa, is a Brazilian professional Association football, football club based in the district of Pari (district of São Paulo), Pari, São Paulo, that competes in the Ca ...
. He quickly made a name for himself at the club, breaking into the first team in
2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
and contributing largely to a promotion to the Série A, scoring 18 goals in 28 games – season's best – and being voted the competition's best player. It was this form which initially prompted Brazilian under-20 coach Nélson Rodrigues to include Diogo in his team (he had already played in previous national youth sides). In
2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
he had his first taste of top-flight football with Portuguesa, and showed early good form with six goals in 13 matches. Early in the same year, president Manuel da Lupa said he was as good as if not better than AC Milan's teenage sensation Alexandre Pato; he added that the player had only shown 50% of his capability due to consistent injuries. In July 2008, several teams had been attracted to Diogo's talents, and the player revealed his desire to play his trade in Europe after longtime admirers Arsenal were joined by
ACF Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...
in bidding for his services. He had been monitored by the former's scouting department for more than two years, and offers included a £9,000,000 one, promptly rejected by Portuguesa; Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger also publicly stated that he had tried to sign him once, as a 16-year-old.


Olympiacos

Olympiacos F.C. also became interested and, in a widely documented and somewhat controversial period of negotiation, Diogo finally signed for the Greek club in August 2008, for 9 million and 70% of the player's rights. After passing his medical, he agreed to a five-year contract. Diogo made his first appearance in the season's opener, against Asteras Tripolis F.C. on 30 August 2008. On 6 September he scored from the penalty spot against Ionikos FC, in a friendly. In the second round, he netted the game's only goal at Xanthi FC. During his first campaign he also showcased his good heading ability by scoring many of his goals from headers, being at one point the player with more goals with that specific body part at four. In that year's
UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
, Diogo scored twice in the 5–0 home victory over FC Nordsjælland on 2 October, adding two more in a 5–1 defeat of S.L. Benfica the following month, also in the group stage and at Karaiskakis Stadium. Hence, heightened rumours of a big-money transfer to Europe's elite – and again to England – surfaced, whilst the player was ranked seventh (out of 50) in
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
's list of ''Footballers Transfer Target List''; eventually, the
Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...
team won the double. Further interest arose in October 2008, now from three other
Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
sides,
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, Chelsea and
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. The latter's coach, Rafa Benítez, again declared interest in the player in March of the following year, preparing to offer £12 million to acquire his services. Anfield scouts had been said to have checked on him, seeing him as a perfect replacement for the departed Robbie Keane; Benítez then loaned Sebastián Leto to Olympiacos, further fueling rumours that the player would be included in a swap deal, but nothing came to fruition, with Leto instead moving to Panathinaikos FC. Diogo's second season was disastrous for both him and the team, suffering several injuries which limited to just slightly more than half of the games, scoring just two goals and losing his place in the starting lineup to Kostantinos Mitroglou. He started 2010–11 by netting twice against Besa Kavajë of
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in a 5–0 away win (11–1 on aggregate) in the Europa League. In the competition's next round, however, against Maccabi Tel Aviv FC, he was sent off after punching opposing goalkeeper Liran Strauber, in a 1–0 away loss that also meant the Greeks' elimination on the
away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...
.


Back to Brazil

Diogo returned to Brazil on 19 August 2010, being loaned to CR Flamengo. Six months later, he joined
Santos FC Santos Futebol Clube () is a Brazilian sports club based in Vila Belmiro, a ''bairro'' in the city of Santos, São Paulo, Santos. It plays in the Campeonato Paulista, the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo's premier State football lea ...
also on loan, failing to perform overall and returning to Olympiacos in January 2012, being excluded from the squad later that year. On 6 March 2013, Diogo returned to his first club Portuguesa.


Buriram United

On 31 December 2014, Diogo signed a two-year contract with Buriram United F.C. from the Thai League 1. He scored in his debut on 24 January 2015, helping his new team to defeat Bangkok Glass F.C. 1–0 in the Kor Royal Cup. Diogo scored 45 goals in 51 competitive games in his first season, as Buriram became the first Asian side to win five titles in one year. He also managed to finish top scorer of the domestic league twice, scoring 133 times overall which was a record at the organisation.


Johor Darul Ta'zim

On 3 January 2019, Johor Darul Ta'zim F.C. announced the signing of Diogo for an approximate fee of €1.5 million, the highest ever paid by a Malaysian club. In December 2023, after having won several honours including three
Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...
– he also returned to Thailand to represent BG Pathum United F.C. before heading back to the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in 2022 – the 36-year-old announced his retirement.


International career

Diogo was called to train with the Brazil under-23 team by manager Dunga in late 2007. He was supposed to have been selected for the FIFA U-20 World Cup earlier that year, but was dropped from the squad after breaking his arm.


Career statistics


Honours

Olympiacos *
Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...
: 2008–09, 2011–12, 2012–13 *
Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...
: 2008–09, 2011–12 Santos *
Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the São Paulo State Football Federation (FPF), ...
:
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
*
Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...
:
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
Buriram United * Thai League 1:
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
, 2017,
2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
* Thai FA Cup:
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
* Thai League Cup:
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
,
2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
* Thailand Champions Cup:
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
,
2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
*
Mekong Club Championship The Toyota Mekong Club Championship was an ASEAN Football Federation, ASEAN club competition for men's association football clubs. Five teams entered as respective domestic league winners from ''Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam''. ...
:
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
,
2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
* Toyota Premier Cup:
2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
Johor Darul Ta'zim *
Malaysia Super League The Malaysia Super League (), known simply as the Super League (), is the men's top professional Football in Malaysia, football division of the Malaysian football league system. Administered by the Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnersh ...
:
2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
,
2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
,
2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...
* Malaysia FA Cup:
2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...
* Malaysia Cup:
2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
,
2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...
* Piala Sumbangsih:
2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
,
2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
BG Pathum United *Thai League 1: 2020–21 *Thailand Champions Cup:
2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
,
2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
Individual *Thai League 1 Top Scorer:
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
,
2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
*Thai League 1 Most Valuable Player:
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
,
2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
* FAM Football Awards – Best Foreign Player:
2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
* Malaysia Super League Team of the Season:
2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Diogo 1987 births Living people 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen Brazilian men's footballers Footballers from São Paulo Men's association football forwards Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Associação Portuguesa de Desportos players CR Flamengo footballers Santos FC players SE Palmeiras players Super League Greece players Olympiacos F.C. players Thai League 1 players Buriram United F.C. players BG Pathum United F.C. players Malaysia Super League players Johor Darul Ta'zim F.C. players Copa Libertadores–winning players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Thailand Expatriate men's footballers in Malaysia Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Thailand Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Malaysia