Enrique Alberto Díaz Harvey (born 23 February 1959) is a retired

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

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 ...

. He is considered one of the best Costa Rican wingers of the 1980s, and one of the most recognized sports figures in his country.

Club career

A speedy left winger, Díaz made his debut in the

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

for his native Limonense on 17 April 1977 against

Puntarenas Puntarenas () is a city in the Puntarenas Province, on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. As the seat of the Municipality of Puntarenas canton, it is awarded the title of city, which comprises the Puntarenas, Chacarita and El Roble districts. A ...

,La huella de Enrique
- Nación then played a year for Ramonense before joining Herediano in 1980, where he won the 1981 league title.El travieso de la banda izquierda Figuras del ayer: Enrique Díaz Harvey
- Nación He played most of his professional career for

Saprissa Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its football team. The club is based in San Juan de Tibás, San José, and play their home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá. Their colours are burgundy and white. It ...

, amassing 444 league games and helped them to win four national titles during the 1980s and 1990s, as well one

CONCACAF Champions Cup The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, a ...

in 1993. He was known as ''El Zancudo'' ('leggy') on account of his very long legs. He played a total of 676 official games, scoring 88 goals. A testimonial game against Chilean side Universidad Católica to honor his retirement was suspended after the Chilean side's defender Raimundo Tupper committed suicide a few days before the game in San José.

International career

Díaz made 52 appearances for the senior

Costa Rica national football team The Costa Rica national football team () represents Costa Rica in men's international Association football, football. The national team is administered by the Costa Rican Football Federation, Federación Costarricense de Fútbol (), the governi ...

from 1979 to 1992. He was part of the team that beat then

1982 FIFA World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain from 13 June to 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy national footbal ...

champions

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in the 1984 Olympics in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. He also played with Costa Rica in 8 of the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...

qualifiers, but was dropped by coach

Bora Milutinovic Bora may refer to: Geography * Bora (Australian), the site of an initiation ceremony in Australian aboriginal culture, sometimes known as Bora rings * Bora, India, a village in Punjab, India * Borá, a city in the São Paulo state in Brazil * Bo ...

from the team that played in the World Cup, alongside

Evaristo Coronado Evaristo Coronado Salas (born 13 September 1960) is considered the best Costa Rican football striker during the 1980s. Club career Born in Ciudad Cortés, Coronado is one of the most recognized sports figures in his country. He played his ent ...

and

Álvaro Solano Álvaro Enrique Solano Artavia (born 25 June 1961) is a retired Costa Rican football player, who used to play as a midfielder. Club career Solano made his professional debut for Alajuelense on 2 July 1978 against Limonense and went on to play ...

despite a national cry for his inclusion. His final international was a December 1992

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments ar ...

match against

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

Retirement

Since his retirement in 1996, Enrique has worked with Saprissa's minor league system.

Personal life

Díaz is divorced, has three children, and lives in

Desamparados Desamparados is a district of the Desamparados canton, in the San José province of Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to th ...

. His son, Junior Díaz, currently plays for

Club Sport 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 best known for its football tea ...

and Costa Rica's national squad. Despite playing for both of their antagonists, Díaz has confessed that he is a

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, Al ...

supporter and that he always wished to play for the ''manudos'' during the 80s, however he also criticized then-club president Roberto Chacón as being a cheapskate who did not allow him to fulfill his dream.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz, Enrique 1959 births Living people Footballers from Limón Province Men's association football wingers Costa Rican men's footballers Costa Rica men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Costa Rica Footballers at the 1984 Summer Olympics A.D. Ramonense players C.S. Herediano footballers Deportivo Saprissa players CONCACAF Champions Cup–winning players