Ramón Díaz (soccer player)

Ramón Díaz
Ramón Díaz in June 2007
Personnel
Surname	Ramón Ángel Díaz
birthday	August 29, 1959
place of birth	La Rioja ,  Argentina
size	172 cm
position	striker
Juniors
Years	station
	River Plate
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1978-1981	River Plate	123 (57)
1982-1983	SSC Naples	25 0(3)
1983-1986	US Avellino	78 (22)
1986-1988	AC Florence	53 (17)
1988-1989	Inter Milan	33 (12)
1989-1991	AS Monaco	60 (24)
1990-1991	AS Monaco B	1 0(0)
1991-1993	River Plate	52 (27)
1993-1995	Yokohama F. Marinos	75 (52)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
	Argentina youth
	Argentina U-20
1979-1982	Argentina	22 (10)
Stations as a trainer
Years	station
1995-1999	River Plate
2001-2002	River Plate
2004-2005	Oxford United
2006-2008	CA San Lorenzo
2008-2009	Club America
2010-2011	CA San Lorenzo
2011–2012	CA Independiente
2012–	River Plate
2014-2016	Paraguay
1 Only league games are given.

Ramón Ángel Díaz (called El Pelad ; born August 29, 1959 in La Rioja ) is an Argentine football player and coach . He spent his active career mainly with his regular club River Plate , but also in Italy , France and, at the end of his career, in Japan . With Diego Maradona he won the Junior World Cup in 1979 , where he was also successful as a top scorer. He also took part with the player of the century in the 1982 World Cup, where the Argentines, however, already fell out in the group stage.

After his active career, he appeared as a long-time coach of River Plate, but also took over the coaching position at the clubs Oxford United , CA San Lorenzo and Club America . At River Plate, considering the titles he has won, he is one of the most successful coaches in the club's more than 110-year history.

Ramón Díaz has cult status among the supporters of River Plate but also of CA San Lorenzo.

Club career

Career start at River Plate

After he was born in 1959 in La Rioja in the Argentine province of the same name , Ramón Díaz moved to the capital Buenos Aires at a young age , where he worked for the local major club River Plate , which at that time was already one of the major training clubs in Argentina was valid, in whose youth department was accepted. There he was trained mainly by the former Argentine international Norberto Yácono , who had spent his entire active career in his home country, but also in Mexico and Canada . It was also he who recommended the young offensive talent Ramón Díaz to "the machine" Ángel Labruna , who was coaching the club's men's team at the time. Labruna therefore took him on trial for the first half of the Primera División, which was then still under the name Metropolitano , in the professional team, where he immediately attracted attention due to his performance. Díaz made his debut in the top Argentine football league on August 13, 1978 in a 1-0 win over CA Colón , before he was only four rounds later, on August 30, 1978, in a 1-1 draw against Quilmes AC scored his first goal in a professional league. By the end of the season he made a total of 14 league appearances and five goals, but had to spend the subsequent Nacional 1978 , the second half of the season, back in the youth teams. It was only in the 1979 Metro that the trained striker had his new breakthrough in the professional squad, where the attacker with the shirt number hit the opposing goal three times in six completed games and was thus not really uninvolved when the team won the championship title at the end of the season.

The team trained by Labruna was also able to shine in the following Nacional in 1979 and only won the championship because of the away goal rule after two draws in the two finals against the Unión de Santa Fe . Díaz himself was also used in the two finals and could look back on 16 league appearances and nine goals scored by the end of the championship. The following season, the Metro 1980 , Diaz was able to further increase its operations and its ability to score, but could not the success of his former U-20 and since last year also A-National teammates with 14 goals in 27 Championship appearances by far Diego Maradona connect who clearly dominated the scorers list at the time. Nevertheless, Díaz was able to prevail with River Plate in the final standings in front of the Maradona club Argentinos Juniors and again bring the championship title in favor of the Millonarios in the capital. While the successes in the final part of 1980 were absent, Ramón Díaz acted as one of the regular players in the attack line of River Plate, where he came eight times in 13 appearances. Even after the departure of Diego Maradona within the league to the Boca Juniors at the end of the 1980 season, Díaz could not really prevail in the goalscorer list of the Primera División. Although appearances in 30 league games and the resulting 14 goals in the Metro in 1981 , he was still far from the top scorer's crown, which Raul Chaparro won with 20 goals in this season .

After successes at home and the World Cup in '82 to Italy

Also in the championship it did not really work for River Plate when they only reached fourth place in the final classification, but made up for this in the following Nacional 1981 with a championship title. At least 17 championship appearances, but only four hits it brought Díaz to the end of the championship. After he had participated with his home country in the Soccer World Cup 1982 / Argentina in Spain , mostly only serving as a substitute in the attack of the Argentines and with a late goal in the last game against Brazil contributed his only goal in the competition, various European clubs were nonetheless attention to the rather small striker. After the World Cup, the Italian first division club SSC Napoli strengthened themselves with the lively left-footer and paid a rumored transfer fee of 1,430,000 US dollars for him . Used right from the start of the season, he scored his first goal for the Neapolitans on September 26, 1982, in the third round of the current season. This he succeeded in the 68th minute of play in a 2-0 home win over US Catanzaro , now only represented at amateur level ; the 1.76 m tall defensive man Antonio Criscimanni scored the first goal for his team . This was followed by goals against FC Turin and against the big club AS Roma , against whom he even scored to lead Napoli 1-0 before the team lost 5-2 to the capital club. He finished the championship with the team in tenth place, only two points away from a relegation zone, in this season's very closely staggered table, with Díaz himself making appearances in 25 championship games and scoring three goals.

Via Naples , Díaz came to nearby Avellino in the summer of 1983 , where he was signed by the US Avellino and became the team's most successful goalscorer in his first season. After 24 appearances and seven goals, the Argentine only finished the 1983/84 season and, like his previous club from Napoli, was in the immediate relegation battle until the end of the season. Even after relegation, the team's performance did not increase in the 1984/85 season , although the team that determined the equally experienced Franco Colomba as team captain after the retirement of the captain Salvatore Di Somma , only just managed to stay in the first class again. Ramón Díaz's goalscoring rate also fell a little compared to last year, with only five goals in a total of 27 league games, but still one of the most successful goal scorers in the Campanians team . In the 1985/86 season, the left-footed player doubled his goalscoring rate and scored ten goals in as many appearances as in the previous year, not only being the top scorer of his team, but also more than a third of all his team's goals scored and made it to fifth place in the league-wide list of goalscorers. In the course of the season, however, it was only enough for an eleventh place after having played for years to stay in the league. After the end of the season, the Argentine tried to move to the top of the table due to the hopelessness with Avellino. After other regulars left the club at the end of the 1985/86 season and, among others, the Brazilian Dirceu and the Austrian Walter Schachner were brought into the squad as new offensive forces , Díaz made a transfer to Fiorentina .

Stability at Fiorentina

He quickly made a breakthrough with the Florentines and continued to act as a regular for the entire 1986/87 season , making 29 appearances and ten goals by the end of the season. While Avellino experienced an upturn and advanced to eighth place in the table, the ACF Fiorentina ranked tenth in the final ranking of the closely staggered table. Together with his compatriot Diego Maradona and the Italian Aldo Serena , Díaz was ranked fourth in the league-wide scorers list, behind Pietro Paolo Virdis , Gianluca Vialli and Alessandro Altobelli . Initially in action under Eugenio Bersellini , only successful coach Sven-Göran Eriksson brought the upswing at the club from Tuscany . Through this, the team came up to eighth place in the league, which had been increased to 18 teams, and was only just eliminated from the Coppa Italia 1987/88 in the round of 16. Ramón Díaz himself had a record of 24 league appearances and seven goals. He was the most dangerous goalscorer in the Florentine squad before Roberto Baggio with six goals. After some stability at Fiorentina, the Argentinian striker made his next move, which brought him to the big club Inter Milan within Italy and within the league . In Northern Italy he made it to players like Aldo Serena, Nicola Berti Lothar Matthäus or Andreas Brehme as a regular player on a total of 33 league appearances, in which he scored twelve goals. For the team, which had to accept only two defeats in the entire 1988/89 season , it was enough at the end of the season with a lead of eleven points on the runners-up, SSC Napoli, easily for the championship title in the top Italian division. While Serena, the top scorer of the season (22 goals), stayed at Inter Milan, the 1.72 m tall Argentine moved to France for the following season , after he was already being courted by various clubs at that time.

Moved to France and returned home

Even after his transfer to AS Monaco , where he made his league debut on August 26, 1989 in a 2-0 defeat against SC Toulon , Díaz's offensive power and the danger of scoring did not decrease. Although he played 28 league games, he was alongside other offensive players such as Fabrice Mège , George Weah , Glenn Hoddle, who was hardly used in the 1990/91 season or Mark Hateley, who was also rarely used, by far the most successful goalscorer in the Monegasque this season. With the generally ailing Youssouf Fofana , who did not score a single goal in 30 appearances, a striker duo that was only successful on one side was often the result of the season. Especially Díaz and the defensive department of AS Monaco, which allowed at least goals in the league, it was thanks to them that the team ranked end of the season in third place in the table and thereby a starting place in the first round of the UEFA Cup in 1990/91 secured . Even before the team took the Cup finalist last year at the 1989-90 European Cup Winners' Cup in part where Diaz was used in seven games, scored twice and only in the semi-final against Sampdoria was eliminated from the current competition. In the subsequent 1990/91 UEFA Cup, the Argentine was used in five games, in which he scored two goals, and with the team up to the third round. Within the league, his number of uses increased compared to the previous year, where he was already used in 32 of 38 possible games and scored nine goals. He was the second most successful striker in the professional squad of the Monegasque after the 24-year-old George Weah. At the same time, Díaz, who won the French Football Cup 1990/91 after six missions and one goal with the team , was also used in a game of the B-team with play in third-rate Division 3 and was also runner-up with four points behind Olympique Marseille of the French Division 1.

After a successful time in France, the almost 32-year-old returned after ten years abroad to his home country and to his former training club River Plate , where he benefited above all from his international experience. In his 17 games, which you completed in the Torneo Apertura in 1991 , he scored 14 goals, which he was three goals better than the runner-up in the goalscoring list, the Vélez Sársfield striker Esteban González . This was also the first and only time in his career that Díaz received the top scorer's crown in his home country. In addition, he was able to win the Apertura 1991 with the team and start as a champion in the subsequent Torneo Clausura 1992 , in which he was once again successful as a goalscorer. With 14 completed championship games and six hits, he made it with the team, however, only to fifth place in the table in the final standings. The subsequent Torneo Apertura in 1992 was again much more successful for everyone involved in River Plate when the runner-up behind the Boca Juniors was placed. Ramón Díaz has been used in 17 games this season, scoring seven times. Only a few goalless appearances followed in the 1993 Torneo Clausura before the former Argentine international decided to end his career well paid in Japan in the newly founded J. League .

Successful career end in Japan

In the new Japanese league after replacing the long-serving Japan Soccer League , the Argentinian offensive force, who found accommodation at the club Yokohama F. Marinos , hit immediately. In the first Suntory Series and the subsequent NICOS Series , the Marinos both ranked third in the table, but only came fourth in the overall table. Although there were no significant successes in the league, Ramón Díaz was able to prevail and led the goalscorer list by the end of the season with 28 goals from 32 completed games. He not only won the top scorer's crown in the J. League, but was also voted into the “Best Team of the Year” as the best striker , together with Kazuyoshi Miura . Also in the J. League 1994 Díaz was able to connect to the successes of the previous season, but ranked after a total of 37 appearances in the topped up league together with Nobuhiro Takeda with 23 goals only in fourth place on the goalscorer list. In the table he only had to be satisfied with the Yokohama F. Marinos with a place in the middle of the table. The game year 1995 should ultimately be the last in his 18-year professional career. This year, the offensive player completed six official league games in which he scored one goal and then finally ended his active career as a footballer.

National team career

After he was previously used in numerous games of the Argentine youth selection and went through different teams, he came over time to the junior squad of his home country. With the team, he also took part in the Junior World Cup in Japan in 1979 and appeared alongside offensive players such as Osvaldo Escudero , Juan Barbas , Diego Maradona and Gabriel Calderón . After victories over their peers from Poland , the SFR Yugoslavia and Indonesia , where Díaz's goal danger was already clearly noticeable, the team moved into the final after clear victories in the quarter-finals against Algeria and in the semifinals against Uruguay . There, the team met the U-20 national team of the Soviet Union , which they also cleared with 3: 1. At the end of the tournament, Díaz was the clear top scorer of the competition with eight goals from six games. During the World Cup, he scored twice in a hat trick and, in addition to scoring a goal in the semifinals, was also successful in the final against the Soviet Union. At the same time, his teammate, the already aspiring Diego Maradona, was named the best player of the competition. In the same year Díaz also made his debut for the senior national team of his home country and took part with this in Mundialito , where he also scored one goal. As world champion in 1978 automatically qualified for the 1982 World Cup , Ramón Díaz took part with the team at the World Cup finals in Spain. There he was used in four games, but never played the full game and scored the only goal of the Argentines in the 1: 3 defeat in the second final round against Brazil , which also meant the end of the Argentine squad at this World Cup . According to many, there was a certain feud between Maradona and Díaz after the World Cup ended, with the latter allegedly telling the head coach of the national team that he no longer wanted to play with Díaz in the national team. However, Maradona denied this in his autobiography, in which he wrote that he contacted the then coach of the national team Carlos Bilardo , who had been the coach from 1983, and said that he would bring Díaz into the Argentine squad for the 1986 and 1990 World Cups should. In the end, however, it was down to the coach who never brought Ramón Díaz back to the national team after 1982. By the time he left the national team of his home country, Díaz had made a total of 22 international appearances, in which he scored ten goals. According to other sources, he also made 24 caps for his home country.

Coaching career

Successful coach at River Plate

Immediately after his official end of his career, he moved back to Argentina, where he was immediately introduced as the new head coach of River Plate, replacing Carlos Babington or the briefly substituted interim coach Américo Gallego , who previously took over from Daniel Passarella . Both had previously played alongside Ramón Díaz at club level, but also internationally. The successes with Díaz were not long in coming, because in his first year as coach he won the Copa Libertadores of 1996 and the Torneo Apertura in 1996 with the team . This season, the team also managed 15 wins from 19 completed games and placed with the future legionnaire Julio Cruz one of the most dangerous players in the league. In the following Torneo Clausura 1997 , River Plate clearly dominated the table and had a River Plate player in second place on the scorers list with the veteran Enzo Francescoli , who ended his career as an active shortly afterwards. It got tighter in the 1997 Toreno Apertura when River Plate brought the championship title to Belgrano with just one point ahead of Boca Juniors . Due to the victory in the Copa Libertadores, the team coached by Ramón Díaz also took part in the Supercopa Sudamericana , the last edition of this competition at all. There she was able to win the title with a total score of 2: 1 against FC São Paulo . After the successes failed to materialize in 1998, the team only ranked seventh in the 1998 Torneo Clausura and even slipped to 15th in the subsequent Torneo Apertura in 1998 , success returned in 1999. In the Torneo Clausura 1999 still runner-up behind the Boca Juniors, the team brought the title back to Belgrano the following season, the Torneo Apertura 1999 . The team was one point ahead of their closest rival CA Rosario Central and three points ahead of Boca Juniors. After the championship title, Díaz withdrew for a short time and instead had Américo Gallego used, who won another championship title with the team and was then also two-time runner-up. At Torneo Apertura 2001 Díaz replaced his ex-teammate again and took over the post of head coach at River Plate, where he immediately became runner-up. Immediately afterwards he was able to celebrate another championship title with the team in the Torneo Clausura 2002 , before he left the team, which only came in third place in the Torneo Apertura 2002 , in 2002 and his office to the Chilean Manuel Pellegrini gave up.

Back home via England

After some time without a coaching station, he was signed by the Football League Two Oxford United in early December 2004 , after the previous coach Graham Rix had to resign after just a few months and Darren Patterson was appointed as interim coach. With the English, he signed a contract with a term of only six months and also took two assistant coaches, a doctor, a physiotherapist or physio trainer and two interpreters with him to the club, with the previous interim trainer Patterson still at the side was used by Díaz. Through Ramón Díaz, some Argentines also found their way to the club from the university city of Oxford . Among them were not only his two sons, who were initially intended primarily for the reserve team, but also midfielder Juan Pablo Raponi , who once made his professional debut for River Plate under Díaz and joined the English from Olimpo de Bahía Blanca . The first newcomer under Díaz's tenure, however, was the Congolese-French offensive player Ebeli Mbombo Doudou , also Ebeli Mbombo or just Doudou , who joined the club from France. While his older son made his breakthrough into the professional team, Ramón Díaz, who viewed wins as a percentage of appearances, became one of the club's best coaches in the last 20 years. At the turn of the year 2004/05 the British daily The Independent reported that Díaz turned down numerous offers from other clubs just to gain experience in English football and that without asking for a fixed salary. He came to the club after Firoz Kassam , the then owner of Oxford United, who himself worked in Monaco for many years , was made aware of Díaz by a business colleague and agent. The former Argentine international, who was initially associated with the Queens Park Rangers , only switched to Oxford after attending a few games of the club with his former assistant coach at River Plate, Horacio Rodriguez , and so on has prepared in detail for a possible change. The main reason for the free work of all Argentines in the club was that all non-EU citizens need a work permit in order to work in such a country at all. To get around this, the Argentines decided to join the club free of charge. After the contract expired, he and his team left the club for home.

Master with San Lorenzo and time in Mexico

Over the years, Ramón Díaz had various offers, but did not decide to move within Argentina to CA San Lorenzo de Almagro until the end of 2006 . He also took over the technical management of the club. With San Lorenzo he was able to win the Torneo Clausura 2007 , which meant the first title for a club from the working-class Boedo for over six years. Shortly before the end of the Torneo Clausura in 2008 , he finally left the club to be replaced by Miguel Ángel Russo . In mid-June he was signed by the Mexican club, Club America , although the Mexicans did not disclose any details about the contract. Nonetheless, it was reported that he was paid one and a half million dollars a year for his work in Mexico and would also be entitled to an additional six million US dollars related to performance. With the Mexican first division club he remained untitled and left the club after around 24 missions in February 2009 to return to his home country and to be replaced by Jesús Ramírez at Club America . After that, Ramón Díaz remained without a club until the summer of 2010 before signing another contract with CA San Lorenzo at the end of May. He replaced the interim coach Sebastián Méndez , who left his post shortly before. At the same time, a possible departure of Diego Maradona from the Argentine national team was already being discussed, with Díaz also being considered a possible successor. However, he decided against it in advance, as he had only just signed with San Lorenzo and did not want to leave the club without commitment. After it only brought the team to 14th place in the 2010 Torneo Apertura , Ramón Díaz announced his resignation as coach of the Argentine first division team at the end of April 2011. After his departure, Diego Maradona was considered his possible successor, but the footballer of the century was drawn to Al-Wasl in Dubai .

Family, trivia, private matters

His first son, Emiliano Díaz, was born during his time in Naples , who himself tried to follow up on his father's career, but only managed to do so with moderate success. He made his professional debut at River Plate under his father and was never used again after just one game. Then his father brought him to the clubs Oxford United and CA San Lorenzo, where he was coaching at the time. His second son, named Michel Díaz, was born while he was a member of the US Avellino . He also tried his hand at football, but barely managed to go beyond the amateur field, but with the help of his father was briefly in the professional squad of CA San Lorenzo and in the reserve team of Oxford United.

successes

As a player

with River Plate

• Master of the Metropolitano: 1979, 1980
• Master of the Nacional: 1979, 1981
• Master of Torneo Apertura: 1991
• Apertura top scorer: 1991 (14 goals)
• Vice champion of the Torneo Apertura: 1992

with Inter Milan

• Champion of Serie A : 1988/89

with AS Monaco

• French football cup winner : 1990/91
• Vice champion in Division 1 : 1990/91

with the Yokohama F. Marinos

• J. League Top Scorer : 1993 (28 goals)
• Election in the "Best Eleven of the Year": 1993

with Argentina

• Junior soccer world champion : 1979
• Top scorer of the Junior World Cup: 1979 (8 goals)
• World Cup participant : 1982

As a trainer

with River Plate

• Copa Libertadores Winner : 1996
• Supercopa Sudamericana winner : 1997
• Master of Torneo Apertura: 1996, 1997, 1999
• Master of the Torneo Clausura: 1997, 2002
• Vice-champion of the Torneo Clausura: 1999
• Vice champion of the Torneo Apertura: 2001

with the CA San Lorenzo

• Master of the Torneo Clausura: 2007

Web links

• Ramón Díaz on FutbolPasion.com (Spanish)
• Ramón Díaz ( Memento of October 20, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) FutbolFactory (Spanish)
• Ramón Díaz in FútbolXXI (Spanish)
• Ramón Díaz in the database of the Base de Datos del Futbol Argentino (Spanish)
• Ramón Díaz on UniversoRiver.com (Spanish)
• Ramon Diaz in the database of FIFA (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Diego Maradona May Be Out As Argentina Football Manager , accessed June 4, 2011
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Ramon Diaz: Globe-trotting thoroughbred commits to Oxford cause , accessed June 4, 2011
3. ↑ ^{a b} Diaz takes charge  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), accessed June 4, 2011  
4. ↑ Firoz on Diaz appointment  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), accessed June 4, 2011  
5. ↑ Double Diaz for Reserves  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), accessed June 4, 2011  
6. ↑ Raponi in for debut  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), accessed June 4, 2011  
7. ↑ Ebeli Mbombo Doudou on the official website of Oxford United ( Memento of the original from June 20, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), accessed June 4, 2011 
8. ↑ Mission data on soccerbase.com , accessed on June 4, 2011
9. ↑ Ramón Díaz es el nuevo técnico de San Lorenzo (Spanish), accessed June 4, 2011
10. ↑ Ramón Díaz es el nuevo DT de San Lorenzo (Spanish), accessed June 4, 2011
11. ↑ Ramón Díaz asume la dirección técnica de San Lorenzo de Almagro ( Memento of the original from September 20, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Spanish), Retrieved June 4, 2011 
12. ↑ Ramón Díaz es el nuevo técnico de San Lorenzo (Spanish), accessed June 4, 2011
13. ↑ Ramón Díaz ya es nuevo técnico del América ( Memento of the original of July 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Spanish), Retrieved June 4, 2011 
14. ↑ Ramón fue presentado en América de México (Spanish), accessed June 4, 2011
15. ↑ Ramón Díaz acordó su regreso a San Lorenzo (Spanish), accessed June 4, 2011
16. ^ Gloria, adiós (Spanish), accessed June 4, 2011
17. ↑ Ramon Diaz steps down as San Lorenzo coach (English), accessed on June 4, 2011
18. ^ Al-Wasl coach - Diego Armando Maradona finds new job in Dubai , accessed on June 4, 2011