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Luis Díaz (Costa Rican footballer)

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In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Díaz and the second or maternal family name is Espinoza.
Luis Díaz
Diaz with Columbus Crew in 2019
Personal information
Full name Luis Mario Díaz Espinoza
Date of birth (1998-12-06) 6 December 1998 (age 25)
Place of birth Nicoya, Costa Rica
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
 Deportivo Saprissa
Number 11
Youth career
2005–2016 A.D. Guanacasteca
2016 Grecia
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2018 Grecia 45 (2)
2019 Herediano 19 (1)
2019–2023 Columbus Crew 88 (6)
2023 Columbus Crew 2 2 (0)
2023 Colorado Rapids 3 (0)
2024– Deportivo Saprissa 8 (0)
International career‡
2017–2018 Costa Rica U20
2021 Costa Rica U23 3 (0)
2019– Costa Rica 8 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 03:03, 24 October 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 00:39, 29 November 2022 (UTC)

Luis Mario Díaz Espinoza (born 6 December 1998) is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as a winger for Deportivo Saprissa and the Costa Rica national team.

Career

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Díaz started his career in the academy of his local team, A.D. Guanacasteca at the age of five, remaining with the academy until he was seventeen. In 2016, he attended a tournament with Guanacasteca in which he was noticed by Municipal Grecia, where he was subsequently signed.[1] In the 2016–17 season, he and Grecia earned promotion to Liga FPD, the first division of Costa Rican football.[2] Over the summer of 2018, Díaz was the subject of transfer rumors from Herediano;[3] he would officially join Herediano for the 2019 Clausura.[4] On July 2, 2019, it was announced that Díaz had been transferred to Major League Soccer club Columbus Crew SC for $1 million, and would join the club as a Young Designated Player.[5][6]

Díaz made his Columbus debut on July 17 against the Chicago Fire.[7] Coming on in the 65th minute for Eduardo Sosa, Díaz assisted fellow debutant Romario Williams in scoring a 90th-minute equalizer as part of a 2–2 draw.[7] He was named to the team of the week for his efforts in a 3–1 victory against Atlanta United.[8] He went on to finish the 2019 season making 13 appearances along with two goals and four assists.[9] During the 2020 season, Diaz was part of the Columbus team that won the 2020 MLS Cup, making a total of 25 appearances for the club.[9][10] Though Díaz was in and out of the starting lineup throughout the season, he started three out of four of the club's playoff games, including the final in which Columbus beat Seattle Sounders FC 3–0.[10]

During the 2021 season, Díaz had a promising start, featuring in all of the first eleven games, starting ten, including in the CONCACAF Champions League. He scored his first goal in the new season against Toronto FC on 29 May, his first for the club since September 2019.[11][12] However, an injury on national team duty led to his withdrawal from the squad,[13] and caused him to miss three straight games for Columbus.[14][15] After returning in time for the unveiling of Columbus' new stadium, Díaz participated in the Gold Cup with Costa Rica, resulting in his absence from the following four league games. Upon his return from the national team, he struggled to secure a regular starting position, making a total of twelve appearances to wrap up the season, with only four starts. Notably, he made a substitute appearance in the 64th minute to help his team secure a 2–0 victory against Cruz Azul in the 2021 Campeones Cup.[16] His team would fail to make the end of season playoffs after winning the championship the previous year.[17]

The beginning of 2022 saw Diaz relegated to the bench to start out the season, however, in the first game of the new season, he would come on as a substitute to score the third goal in a 4–0 drubbing to Vancouver Whitecaps FC.[18] Despite initially being a substitute with occasional starts, lackluster play from his teammates, combined with his impressive two-assist game against the Chicago Fire, earned him a starting position for the rest of the year.[19] He would go on to score the only goal in a 1–0 victory against Inter Miami CF. At the end of the year, the Crew would fail to make the playoffs for a second consecutive season.[20]

On 5 September 2023, Díaz was waived by Columbus.[21]

International career

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He made his Costa Rica national team debut on 6 September 2019 in a friendly against Uruguay, when he replaced Joel Campbell in the 68th minute and was cautioned in the remaining minutes.[22]

Personal life

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Díaz used part of his salary in Major League Soccer to buy his family a new house in Costa Rica.[23]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of 28 November 2022[24][25]
Club Season League Cup Continental[a] Other[b] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Grecia 2016–17 Segunda División 0 0 – – 2[c] 0 2 0
2017–18 Liga FPD 27 2 – – – 27 2
2018–19 18 0 – – – 18 0
Total 45 2 – – 2 0 47 2
Herediano 2018–19 Liga FPD 19 1 – 2 0 2 0 23 1
Columbus Crew 2019 MLS 13 2 – – – 13 2
2020 26 0 1[d] 0 – 4 0 31 0
2021 19 1 1[e] 0 4 0 – 24 1
2022 26 3 – – – 26 3
2023 4 0 0 0 – – 4 0
Total 88 6 2 0 4 0 4 0 98 6
Columbus Crew 2 (loan) 2023 MLS Next Pro 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Colorado Rapids 2023 MLS 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Career total 157 9 2 0 6 0 8 0 173 9
  1. ^ All appearances in the CONCACAF Champions League
  2. ^ Appearances in the Liga FPD playoffs and the Major League Soccer Playoffs
  3. ^ Appearances in the Segunda División promotion playoffs
  4. ^ Appearance in the MLS is Back Tournament
  5. ^ Appearance in the Campeones Cup

International

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As of 15 May 2022[26]
Costa Rica
Year Apps Goals
2019 2 0
2020 2 0
2021 4 0
Total 8 0

Honours

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Columbus Crew

References

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  1. ^ "Los tres jugadores que el Saprissa llamó, pero estaban firmados por Herediano". La Nación (in Spanish). 26 April 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  2. ^ "VIDEOS: El Municipal Grecia es campeón y asciende a la primera división". everardoherrera.com. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  3. ^ Ramirez, Wender (23 November 2018). "Luis Díaz deja Grecia para iniciar su aventura en Herediano" [Luis Díaz leaves Grecia to begin his adventure in Herediano]. MarioSegura.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  4. ^ "Luis Díaz formará parte del Club Sport Herediano". Club Sport Herediano (in Spanish). 2 January 2019. Archived from the original on 14 December 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  5. ^ "Crew Sign Luis Diaz". Major League Soccer. 2 July 2019.
  6. ^ Myers, Jacob. "Columbus Crew signs Costa Rica winger Luis Diaz on $1 million transfer fee". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  7. ^ a b "Chicago Fire vs. Columbus Crew SC – Football Match Line-Ups – July 17, 2019 – ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  8. ^ Rodriguez, Alicia (16 September 2019). "Team of the Week presented by Audi: Carles Gil hustles to the top in Week 28". mlssoccer. Archived from the original on 26 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Costa Rica – L. Díaz – Profile with news, career statistics and history – Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  10. ^ a b Straus, Brian (13 December 2020). "Resilient at Their Core, Crew Are Fitting MLS Cup Champions in 2020". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  11. ^ Myers, Jacob (29 May 2021). "Columbus Crew rides two early goals from Diaz and Zardes to 2–1 win against Toronto FC". The Columbus Dispatch. Archived from the original on 26 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  12. ^ "Luis Díaz 2019 Match Logs". FBref.com. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  13. ^ Escobar, Gina (2 June 2021). "Díaz y Sequeira son bajas en la Tricolor". fedefutbol.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 26 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  14. ^ "Luis Díaz 2021 Match Logs". FBref.com. 26 June 2023. Archived from the original on 26 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  15. ^ "Luis Díaz | Columbus Crew". ColumbusCrew.com. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  16. ^ "CLBvsCRZ 09-29-2021 | 2022 MLS Match Recap". mlssoccer. 29 September 2021. Archived from the original on 26 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  17. ^ "Conference Standings". mlssoccer. 26 June 2023. Archived from the original on 26 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  18. ^ "Recap: Columbus Crew 4, Vancouver Whitecaps FC 0". mlssoccer. 26 February 2022. Archived from the original on 26 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  19. ^ "Luis Díaz 2022 Match Logs". FBref.com. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  20. ^ "Conference Standings". mlssoccer. 26 June 2023. Archived from the original on 26 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  21. ^ "Columbus Crew waive midfielder Luis Díaz | MLSSoccer.com". mlssoccer.
  22. ^ "Costa Rica v Uruguay game report". ESPN. 6 September 2019.
  23. ^ Gomez Munoz, Keish (26 May 2020). "Con su primer sueldo, Luis Díaz compró un lote para construirle una nueva a casa a su familia". ESPN.co.cr (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 26 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  24. ^ Luis Díaz at Soccerway. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  25. ^ Luis Díaz at Major League Soccer
  26. ^ "Luis Díaz". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
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