Iván Díaz Ruiz (born 10 July 1978) is a Spanish former

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 ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Club career

Born in Sabadell,

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

, Díaz was a

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

youth graduate. He made his senior debut with

CE Sabadell FC Centre d'Esports Sabadell Futbol Club, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football team based in Sabadell, a city in the province of Barcelona in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1903, it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 2, holdin ...

on 21 May 1995, coming on as a substitute in a 2–0 Segunda División B away loss against

Benidorm CF Benidorm Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in Benidorm, in the autonomous community of Valencia. Founded in 1964 and dissolved in 2011 it held home matches at ''Estadio Municipal Guillermo Amor'', which had a capacity of 6,000. ...

at the age of 16 years and 10 months. Bought by

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league s ...

in 1998 for 15 million pesetas, Díaz was initially assigned to the reserves also in the third tier. Promoted to the main squad the following year, he made his professional debut on 17 July 1999 when he started the 0–2 home defeat to

Montpellier HSC Montpellier Hérault Sport Club (), commonly referred to as Montpellier HSC or simply Montpellier, is a French professional football club based in the city of Montpellier in Occitanie. The original club was founded in 1919, while the current ...

for that year's UEFA Intertoto Cup. Díaz made his

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

debut on 22 April 2000, starting in a 1–0 loss at

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system. The club c ...

. In the summer of 2002 he moved to

Albacete Balompié Albacete Balompié is a Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 2 August 1940, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish football, holding home matches ...

of Segunda División (initially on loan, later permanently), achieving promotion at the first attempt; he scored his first professional goal in the meantime, the winner in a 2–1 home win over

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Las Palmas, on the island of Gran Canaria in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded on 22 August 1949, it plays in Segunda División, holding home games at t ...

. Díaz left ''Alba'' in 2005 after suffering relegation, and subsequently resumed his career in the lower leagues, representing Sabadell,

UE Figueres Unió Esportiva Figueres is a Spanish football team based in Figueres, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1919 and refounded in 2007 it plays in the Primera Catalana league, holding home matches at ''Estadi Municipal de Vilateni ...

UD Logroñés Unión Deportiva Logroñés, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Logroño, in the autonomous community of La Rioja. Founded in 2009, it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home matches at ''Estadio Las Gaunas ...

, CF Atlético Ciudad, Espanyol B,

Terrassa FC Terrassa Futbol Club is a Spanish football team based in Terrassa, Barcelona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1906 it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 3, holding home matches at ''Estadi Olímpic de Terras ...

Sangonera Atlético CF Sangonera Atlético Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in Sangonera la Verde (a neighborhood of Murcia), in the Region of Murcia. Founded in 1996, it was dissolved in 2010, and held home matches at ''Estadio El Mayayo'', with a ca ...

, CD Leganés (two stints), CE Premià,

FC Santboià Futbol Club Santboià is a Spanish football team based in Sant Boi de Llobregat, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1908 it plays in Tercera División – Group 5, holding home matches at ''Estadi Municipal Joan Baptista Milà ...

Palamós CF Palamós Club de Futbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Palamós, a town and commercial port in the ''Costa Brava'', in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in the late 19th century, it currently plays in '' Tercera Divisió ...

, CD Alcanar and Ripoll CF. He also had international stints at

Halmstads BK Halmstads Bollklubb, also known simply as Halmstad () or (especially locally) HBK or Bollklubben, is a Swedish football club located in Halmstad in the county of Halland. The club, formed 7 February 1914 and approved membership in the Swedish ...

and

Auckland City FC Auckland City Football Club is a New Zealand professional football club based in the suburb of Sandringham in Auckland, New Zealand. They currently compete in the Northern League. Auckland City have established themselves as a major force in bo ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz, Ivan 1978 births Living people Footballers from Sabadell Spanish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol players CE Sabadell FC footballers RCD Espanyol B footballers RCD Espanyol footballers Albacete Balompié players UE Figueres footballers UD Logroñés players CF Atlético Ciudad players Terrassa FC footballers CD Leganés players CE Premià players FC Santboià players Palamós CF footballers Allsvenskan players Halmstads BK players New Zealand Football Championship players Auckland City FC players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Expatriate men's association footballers in New Zealand Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Spanish expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand