Diego Costa Silva (born 11 May 1979), known simply as Diego, is a Brazilian former professional

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 ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Club career

Born in

Itaqui Itaqui is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in Brazil, located in the southwestern part of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, close to the Argentina, Argentinian border, between Uruguaiana and São Borja. It sits at a mean altitude of 57 me ...

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...

, Diego represented in his country

Esporte Clube Juventude Esporte Clube Juventude (), or simply Juventude, is a Brazilian football (soccer), football club in Caxias do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul. The club currently competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the Brazilian football league system, fi ...

Clube Atlético Paranaense Club Athletico Paranaense (abbreviated CAP, commonly known as Athletico Paranaense and up to 2019 known as Atlético Paranaense) is a Brazilian football team from the city of Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná, founded ...

Fluminense FC Fluminense Football Club () is a Brazilian sports club based in the neighbourhood of Laranjeiras, in Rio de Janeiro, being the oldest Association football, football club in the state since its foundation in 1902. It competes in the Campeonato B ...

and

Esporte Clube Santo André Esporte Clube Santo André, commonly referred to as simply Santo André, is a Brazilian association football club in Santo André, São Paulo. They currently play in the Série D, the fourth tier of Brazilian football, as well as in the Campeo ...

. He competed in the Série A with all the clubs, for example being an undisputed starter for the second as it finished second in the 2004 season (45 games). In 2009, Diego moved to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, where he played for

Leixões S.C. Leixões Sport Club (), commonly known as Leixões, is a Portuguese sports club from Matosinhos. It is organised into several departments for many sports, such as athletics, boxing, football, futsal, handball, karate, swimming, volleyball, wat ...

and Vitória FC, both in the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

. At the end of his second campaign with the

Setúbal Setúbal ( , , ; ), officially the City of Setúbal (), is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the entire municipality in 2014 was 118,166, occupying an area of . The city itself had 89,303 inhabitants in 2001. It lies withi ...

-based team, he was chosen as best player in the squad. In June 2012, 33-year-old Diego signed for

Azerbaijan Premier League The Azerbaijan Premier League (), also known as Misli Premyer Liqası for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Azerbaijan and the highest level of the Azerbaijani football league system. It is contested by twelve ...

side

Gabala FC Gabala SC (, ), also spelled Qabala, is an Azerbaijani professional football club based in Qabala, which have competed in the Azerbaijan Premier League since 2006. They will be set to play in Azerbaijan Premier League from 2025–26 season follo ...

, on a two-year contract. In his first season at his new club he split starting duties with Anar Nazirov, appearing in a total of 18 official matches – two in the domestic cup – and making his debut on 4 August against

Simurq PFC Simurq PIK () was an Azerbaijani football (soccer), football club based in Zaqatala (city), Zaqatala, that competed in the Azerbaijan Premier League. History Early years (2005–2009) The club was founded in 2005 and participated in the Azerbaija ...

Personal life

Diego's son, Diego Callai, is also a professional football

Club statistics

Honours

Club

Juventude *

Campeonato Gaúcho The Campeonato Gaúcho (English: Gaúcho Championship), officially named as Campeonato Gaúcho de Futebol Série A and commonly known as the Gauchão or the Gauchão Ipiranga (company), Ipiranga for sponsorship reasons, is the top-flight profess ...

: 1998 *

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil () is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and it is the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de Portugal, ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

Atlético Paranaense *

Campeonato Paranaense The Campeonato Paranaense is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Paraná. It is run by the Paraná Football Federation (FPF). List of champions Notes * In 1924 Internacional and América merged in ...

: 2005 Fluminense *

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 ...

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 ...

: Runner-up

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 ...

Individual

* Bola de Prata: 2002

References

External links

*
CBF data

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Diego 1979 births Living people Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série C players Esporte Clube Juventude players Club Athletico Paranaense players Fluminense FC players Esporte Clube Santo André players Primeira Liga players Leixões S.C. players Vitória F.C. players Azerbaijan Premier League players Gabala SC players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Azerbaijan Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan People from Itaqui Footballers from Rio Grande do Sul