Mauro Alberto Díaz (born 10 March 1991) is an Argentine 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 plays as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

Ecuadorian Serie A The Liga Pro Ecuador Serie A, simply known as the Liga Pro or the Serie A (or the Ecuadorian Serie A to distinguish it from the Italian Serie A and the Brazilian Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Série A), or as Liga Pro Ecuabet for sponsorship re ...

club Universidad Católica.

Early career

Díaz made his first team debut for River Plate on 21 September 2008 in a 3–1 away loss to

San Martín de Tucumán Club Atlético San Martín (mostly known as San Martín de Tucumán) is an Argentine sports club founded in 1909 and based in the city of San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán Province. The club is notable for its football team, which currently plays ...

Club career

FC Dallas

Díaz joined

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

side

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

late in 2013, quickly emerging as a talented young

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a footballer who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing Passing (association football), passing moves which lead to Goal (sport), goals, through ...

for the club. He scored several goals in the first few weeks of the 2014 season and earned MLS's player of the month for his exploits in March 2014. However, injuries affected him the rest of the season, and he ended up starting only nine matches. In 2015, he started 24 games and scored eight goals with ten assists as Dallas were the runners up for the

Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 199 ...

and advanced to the Western Conference Finals. The next year, Díaz helped Dallas win two trophies: the 2016 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and the 2016

. However, his 2016 season ended in the penultimate game of the regular season on 16 October when he tore the

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcane ...

on his right leg. He was later named to the 2016

MLS Best XI The MLS Best XI is an annual acknowledgment of the best eleven players in Major League Soccer. The selection is determined by a collection of media, players, and MLS club technical staffs. Winners Appearances by player The following players ...

Shabab Al-Ahli Dubai

On July 3, 2018, it was announced that Diaz had joined

UAE Pro-League The UAE Pro League (), also known as the ADNOC Pro League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the highest level of the Emirati football league system. The first team to w ...

side Shabab Al-Ahli for an undisclosed transfer fee.

Personal life

Diaz is the

brother-in-law A sibling-in-law is the spouse of one's sibling or the sibling of one’s spouse. More commonly, a sibling-in-law is referred to as a brother-in-law for a male sibling-in-law and a sister-in-law for a female sibling-in-law. Sibling-in-law al ...

of both fellow Argentine footballer

Ramiro Funes Mori José Ramiro Funes Mori (; born 5 March 1991) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a defender for Argentine Primera División club Estudiantes. He plays primarily as a centre-back but can also operate as a left-back and defens ...

and Mexican footballer

Rogelio Funes Mori Rogelio Gabriel Funes Mori (born 5 March 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga MX club UNAM. Funes Mori made his professional debut for River Plate. After four years, he moved overseas to join Benfica. Seeking m ...

. Diaz holds a U.S. green card which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

Honors

FC Dallas *

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Individual *

Player of the Tournament: 2016 *

: 2016 *

MLS All-Star The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual Association football, soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from another league. MLS initially ado ...

: 2016

References

External links

* *
FC Dallas profile
1991 births Living people Footballers from Entre Ríos Province Argentine men's footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Argentina men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders Designated Players (MLS) Club Atlético River Plate footballers Unión Española footballers FC Dallas players Shabab Al Ahli Club players Estudiantes de La Plata footballers Club Deportivo Palestino footballers Chilean Primera División players Argentine Primera División players UAE Pro League players Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars Expatriate men's footballers in Chile Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Chile Argentine expatriate sportspeople in the United States Argentine expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates 21st-century Argentine sportsmen {{Argentina-footy-midfielder-1990s-stub