Daniel Alberto "Cata" Díaz (born 13 July 1979) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who played as a central defender.
After starting at Rosario Central, he went on to spend most of his career in Spain, amassing La Liga totals of 174 matches and three goals over six seasons, mainly with Getafe. He also had two spells with Boca Juniors. Díaz also played for the Argentina including at the 2007 Copa América.
Club career
Nicknamed Cata because of his origins from San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca, Díaz started playing at youth amateur local Juventud de Catamarca before moving in 1997 to Rosario Central, still as a junior. Three years later, he first appeared professionally with the latter team.
Díaz moved to Cruz Azul in 2003. After only one season with the Mexican club, he returned to Argentina to become Alfio Basile's captain in Colón de Santa Fe; he subsequently drew attention from Argentine giants Boca Juniors and Club Atlético River Plate, but as Basile was at that time the former's coach, the player decided to make the move for around US$3 million.
Díaz made his debut for Boca in a 4–1 victory over Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy, and was a big part in the side's 2005 Apertura-winning campaign. He added the South American Supercup (win over Once Caldas of Colombia), and the South American Cup (defeat of Mexico's Club Universidad Nacional).
In the middle of 2007, Díaz moved to Spain's Getafe CF for €4 million, being a defensive cornerstone from the very beginning as the Madrid outskirts team reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup in 2007–08. During his spell at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez he rarely missed one game when healthy – for instance, in his third season, he appeared in 30 matches (2,700 minutes of action) to help them finish sixth and qualify for the Europa League.Díaz, el "Ironman" de la Liga BBVA (Díaz, BBVA League's Ironman); ESPN Deportes, 18 February 2012 (in Spanish)Ni un minuto sin El Cata (Not one minute without Cata); Marca, 2 March 2012 (in Spanish)
On 15 June 2012, at nearly 33, Díaz signed with fellow La Liga side Atlético Madrid for two years and €1 million.El Atletico de Madrid ficha al Cata Díaz (Atletico de Madrid sign Cata Díaz); Marca, 15 June 2012 (in Spanish)Atletico Madrid signs Daniel Diaz from Getafe ; Footballcracy, 18 June 2012 He was scarcely used during his only campaign by compatriot Diego SimeoneCata Díaz: "Simeone ha demostrado la valía con números y títulos" (Cata Díaz: "Simeone has shown his worth with numbers and titles"); Marca, 19 December 2012 (in Spanish)El calvario del Cata Díaz (Cata Díaz's ordeal); Vavel, 20 July 2013 (in Spanish) and, subsequently, returned to his homeland and Boca.
On 23 July 2016, Díaz returned to Getafe after agreeing to a one-year deal for his first experience in Segunda División at the age of 37.Cata Díaz vuelve a su casa (Cata Díaz returns to his home); Getafe CF, 23 July 2016 (in Spanish) On 1 September of the following year, after leaving the club due to his wife's direct criticism of manager José Bordalás,Cata Díaz dejará de ser del Geta tras la rajada de su mujer (Cata Díaz will leave Geta after his wife's rant); Diario AS, 25 August 2017 (in Spanish) he joined CF Fuenlabrada of Segunda División B.Comunicado: El C.F. Fuenlabrada incorpora a Cata Díaz (Announcement: C.F. Fuenlabrada sign Cata Díaz) ; CF Fuenlabrada, 1 September 2017 (in Spanish)
Díaz announced his retirement in February 2019, for personal reasons.El Cata Díaz se retira tras 593 partidos por motivos personales (Cata Díaz retires after 593 matches for personal reasons); Diario AS, 11 February 2019 (in Spanish) He went back on his decision shortly after, however, and signed with Club Atlético Nueva Chicago of the Primera B Nacional.El 'Cata' Díaz firma con Nueva Chicago y vuelve al fútbol argentino ('Cata' Díaz signs with Nueva Chicago and returns to Argentine football); Marca, 1 July 2019 (in Spanish)
International career Díaz made his first appearance with the Argentina national team in 2003, and was called to the 2007 Copa América squad as the nation finished second in Venezuela.Basile incluyó a Riquelme y Messi en nómina argentina para Copa América (Basile included Riquelme and Messi in Argentinian squad for Copa América); El Mercurio, 21 June 2007 (in Spanish) On 6 June 2009, in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Colombia, he scored his first and only international goal, finding the net in the 57th minute for a 1–0 home win;Sólo para pragmáticos (Only for the pragmatic); ESPN, 7 June 2009 (in Spanish) he would be, however, overlooked for the final stages in South Africa.
Coaching and later career On 29 November 2019, Díaz's contract expired and he retired for the second and definitive time.El Cata Díaz le dijo adiós a Nueva Chicago: rescindió su contrato (Cata Díaz said goodbye to Nueva Chicago: contract terminated); Clarín, 29 November 2019 (in Spanish) Subsequently, it was reported he was going to be named Miguel Ángel Russo's assistant at Boca Juniors, but he ended up joining the reserves in the same capacity, under Blas Giunta.Cata Díaz ya tiene acordado su regreso a Boca (Cata Díaz has already agreed on return to Boca); Bola VIP, 2 January 2020 (in Spanish)Boca: Cata Díaz se suma al cuerpo técnico de Blas Giunta en Cuarta División (Boca: Cata Díaz added to Blas Giunta's coaching staff in Fourth Division); Buenos Días Chaco, 5 January 2020 (in Spanish) However, 41-year old Cata, left the position at the end of September 2020 and came out of retirement, to play for Spanish club CD Móstoles URJC.El Cata Díaz dejó las inferiores de Boca para volver a jugar al fútbol a los 41 años, infobae.com, 22 September 2020 He announced his retirement again on 23 May 2021.El Cata Díaz se retira del fútbol tras conseguir un gran objetivo, elesquiu.com, 23 May 2021
In the summer 2021, he returned to Boca Juniors in a management-role, collaborating in different aspects.¿Quiénes son y qué hacen los exjugadores que trabajan en Boca junto a Riquelme?, goal.com, 27 July 2021
Personal life Daniel is the younger brother of former football midfielder Juan Carlos Díaz, also nicknamed Cata.
Honours Club Boca Juniors Argentine Primera División: Apertura 2005, Clausura 2006, 2015 Primera División Copa Argentina: 2014–15 Copa Libertadores: 2007 Recopa Sudamericana: 2005 Copa Sudamericana: 2005
Atlético Madrid Copa del Rey: 2012–13 UEFA Super Cup: 2012
International Argentina Copa América runner-up: 2007
References
External links
Career details at Irish Times