Ramon Diaz Argentine footballer and football coach. Date of Birth: 29.08.1959 Country: Argentina

Biography of Ramon Diaz

Ramon Diaz is an Argentine footballer and football coach. He was born in La Rioja, Argentina, but moved to Grand Bourg, Malvinas Argentinas with his family in the early 1960s. He lived there with his aunt and grew up listening to football radio broadcasts. In 1969, he joined the River Plate football academy. While playing for one of River's youth teams, Norberto Yacono, the head coach of the youth team, recommended him to the first team coach, Angel Labruna, who invited Diaz to join the senior squad.

On August 13, 1978, Diaz made his debut for River Plate in a match against Colon, which his team won 1-0. On August 29, in a match against Gimnasia y Esgrima, Diaz scored his first goal for the club; the game ended in a 1-1 draw. He initially played as a left forward for River Plate but later moved to the center of the attack, becoming a regular starter for the team. Diaz spent three years at River Plate, playing in 123 matches and scoring 57 goals.

In 1982, Diaz transferred to Italian club Napoli, who paid $1.43 million for the forward. He played for Napoli for one season before moving to Avellino. Diaz spent three seasons at Avellino, with the club finishing 11th in Serie A each season. In 1986, he joined Fiorentina, where the club consistently finished in the middle of the league table.

In the summer of 1988, Diaz became a player for Inter Milan. On August 24, he made his debut for the team in a Coppa Italia match against Monopoli, which Inter won 1-0. Diaz quickly became a regular starter for Inter, playing as a second striker alongside Aldo Serena, who became the team's top scorer. After Serena, Diaz became Inter's leading scorer, scoring 12 goals in the league. At the end of the season, Inter won the Serie A title. On June 25, 1989, Diaz played his last match for Inter, as his team defeated Fiorentina 2-0.

In 1989, Diaz joined French club Monaco, where he spent two seasons and won the Coupe de France. He then returned to River Plate in Argentina. In his first match back, against Central Cordoba, he missed a penalty when his team was losing 0-1, but later redeemed himself by scoring two goals and securing a victory. In the first nine games, Diaz scored eight goals, and he went on to become the top scorer of the championship, scoring 14 goals. On March 13, 1993, Diaz played his final match for River Plate, which ended in a 1-1 draw against San Martin. His last club in his career was Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan.

Diaz began his international career with the Argentine U-17 and U-20 national teams. In the U-20 team, he played as a center forward alongside Diego Maradona, who was coached by Luis Cesar Menotti. In 1979, Diaz won the FIFA U-20 World Cup with Argentina, where he was the tournament's top scorer and received the Bronze Ball as the third-best player.

In 1982, Diaz participated in the FIFA World Cup with the Argentine national team. He played three games and scored one goal in the match against Brazil, which Argentina lost. Diaz did not play in the subsequent World Cup amid rumors of conflicts with Maradona and other Argentine stars. However, Maradona publicly expressed his desire to see Diaz in the national team, but coach Carlos Bilardo did not include him. Diaz stated that he believed Maradona was right, but ultimately, it was the coach's decision to select the squad.