Júnior Díaz (footballer, born 1983)

Costa Rican footballer (born 1983)

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Díaz and the second or maternal family name is Campbell.

Júnior Díaz
Personal information
Díaz before a match against Mexico at the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup
Full name	Júnior Enrique Díaz Campbell
Date of birth	(1983-09-12) 12 September 1983 (age 41)
Place of birth	Heredia, Costa Rica
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Left-back
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2003–2007	Herediano	129	(10)
2008–2010	Wisła Kraków	66	(5)
2010–2012	Club Brugge	13	(0)
2011–2012	→ Wisła Kraków (loan)	20	(1)
2012–2015	Mainz 05	57	(2)
2015–2016	Darmstadt 98	12	(0)
2016–2017	Würzburger Kickers	24	(0)
2017–2019	Herediano	49	(2)
2019–2021	LD Alajuelense	58	(2)
International career
2002	Costa Rica U20	6	(0)
2003–2004	Costa Rica U23	17	(4)
2003–2016	Costa Rica	81	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Júnior Enrique Díaz Campbell (born 12 September 1983) is a Costa Rican former professional footballer who played as a left-back. He played for the Costa Rica national team. At a top speed of 33.8 km/h, he was deemed by FIFA as the fastest player of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Born in Heredia, Costa Rica, Díaz started his career at local side Herediano before moving abroad to join Polish side Wisła Kraków in January 2008. He moved on to Belgian club Club Brugge in September 2010 and was snapped up by German Bundesliga outfit FSV Mainz in summer 2012.

In 2015, after three years in Mainz, Díaz joined Darmstadt 98, a newly promoted team for the 2015–16 season.

International career

Júnior Díaz made his Costa Rica national team debut in a friendly against China on 7 September 2003. Díaz made one appearance at Copa América 2004, entering as a second-half substitute against Chile. He appeared in all four matches as Costa Rica won the UNCAF Nations Cup 2005 tournament. Díaz also appeared in one match at the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup finals.

Díaz was a member of the Costa Rica national team at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Ten years later, he became a member of the squad that reached the quarterfinals at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He was crucial in the victory against Italy, as he served a cross to assist Bryan Ruiz's header for the lone goal of the match. In a note for La Nación, Díaz reflected on the assist, stating that "I am sure that, once I retire, many will summarize my career in one single cross."

Personal life

He is a son of former Costa Rica international footballer Enrique Díaz and Yamileth Campbell, who divorced when he was 12. He has two brothers, Jefferson and Reydel.

Career statistics

Club

As of 8 July 2013

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	Domestic League			Domestic Cups		Continental Cups		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Herediano	2003–04	Primera División	36	1	–		–		36	1
	2004–05		16	1	–		4	0	20	1
	2005–06		26	3	–		–		26	3
	2006–07		33	2	–		–		33	2
	Apertura 2007		18	3	–		–		18	3
	Total		129	10	–		4	0	133	10
Wisła Kraków	2007–08	Ekstraklasa	7	1	9	0	–		16	1
	2008–09		28	2	5	2	5	1	38	5
	2009–10		27	2	5	1	2	0	34	3
	2010–11		4	0	0	0	3	1	7	1
	Total		66	5	19	3	10	2	95	10
Club Brugge	2010–11	Pro League	13	0	0	0	4	0	17	0
Wisła Kraków (loan)	2011–12	Ekstraklasa	20	1	4	0	12	0	36	1
Mainz 05	2012–13	Bundesliga	18	1	3	0	–		21	1
	2013–14		20	0	0	0	–		20	0
	2014–15		19	1	1	0	–		20	1
	Total		57	2	4	0	–		61	2
Career total			285	18	27	3	30	2	342	23

International

Scores and results list Costa Rica's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Díaz goal.

List of international goals scored by Júnior Díaz
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	15 October 2008	Estadio Ricardo Saprissa, San José, Costa Rica	Haiti	1–0	2–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Wisła Kraków

Ekstraklasa: 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11

Alajuelense

Liga FPD: Apertura 2020
CONCACAF League: 2018, 2020

International

UNCAF Nations Cup: 2005

References

Júnior Díaz at WorldFootball.net
"Junior Diaz". kicker.de (in German). Retrieved 30 July 2017.
"Archived copy". es.fifa.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ Junior Díaz: la madurez marcó el rumbo de un niño con convicción - Nación (in Spanish)
Junior jugará en Polonia - Nación (in Spanish)
Junior Díaz jugará en la liga belga - Nación (in Spanish)
Díaz se abre paso en la Bundesliga alemana - Nación (in Spanish)
"Costa-ricanischer Nationalspieler Júnior Díaz unterschreibt bei den Lilien". Darmstadt 98 (in German). Archived from the original on 29 July 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
Cazal, Jean-Michel (2 February 2005). "2003 Matches Intercontinental". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 20 June 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
Tabeira, Martín (6 December 2012). "Copa América 2004". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 22 October 2008. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
Courtney, Barrie (2 March 2005). "Qualifying Tournament for Gold Cup 2005 - Details". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 2 April 2009. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
Courtney, Barrie; Saaid, Hamdan (30 July 2005). "CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 2005 - Full Details". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 24 October 2008. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
Díaz, Júnior; Goldberg, David (13 September 2019). ""Mucho más que un centro", escrito por Junior Díaz, mundialista de Brasil 2014". La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 February 2021.
Does not include these matches:
22 February 2004 Herediano – Guanacasteca 2–0
29 February 2004 Herediano – Saprissa 1–2
28 April 2004 Herediano – Alajuelense 2–0

External links

Júnior Díaz at Soccerway
Júnior Díaz – FIFA competition record (archived)
Júnior Díaz at National-Football-Teams.com

Costa Rica squads

v t e Costa Rica men's football squad – 2004 Summer Olympics
1 Bolívar 2 Rodríguez 3 Salazar 4 Umaña 5 Myrie 6 Wilson 7 Scott 8 López (c) 9 Brenes 10 Granados 11 Saborío 12 Araya 13 Vallejos 14 Villalobos 15 Díaz 16 Hernández 17 Arrieta 18 Drummond Coach: Kenton

v t e Costa Rica squad – 2004 Copa América
1 Bolívar 2 Umaña 3 Marín 4 Castro 5 Wilson 6 Oviedo 7 Solís 8 Fonseca 9 Saborío 10 Centeno 11 Gómez 12 L. González 13 Hernández 14 Badilla 15 Díaz 16 Bennett 17 Bryce 18 Porras 19 Wright 20 Sequeira 21 Herron 22 R. González Coach: Pinto

v t e Costa Rica squad – 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup
1 Mesén 3 Miller 4 Umaña 5 Badilla 6 Fonseca 7 Rojas 8 López 9 Ruiz 10 Soto 11 Bolaños 12 Díaz 13 Cordero 14 Segura 15 Wallace 17 Bryce 18 Porras 19 Wright 20 Sequeira 21 Brenes 23 Grant Coach: Guimarães

v t e Costa Rica squad – 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup
1 Navas 2 Calvo 3 Acosta 4 Salvatierra 5 Borges (c) 6 Mora 7 Bolaños 8 Guzmán 9 Saborío 10 Ruiz 11 Madrigal 12 Campbell 14 Oviedo 15 Díaz 16 Ureña 17 Martínez 18 Grant 19 Duarte 20 Marshall 21 Brenes 22 Cubero 23 Moreira 24 Guevara Coach: La Volpe

v t e Costa Rica squad – 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup
1 Moreira 2 Waston 3 González 4 Umaña 5 Borges 6 Madrigal 7 Castillo 8 Cunningham 9 Saborío (c) 10 O. Rodríguez 11 Barrantes 12 Ruiz 13 A. Rodríguez 14 Meneses 15 Díaz 16 Johnson 17 Tejeda 18 Pemberton 19 Miller 20 Wallace 21 Granados 22 Arrieta 23 Torres Coach: Pinto

v t e Costa Rica squad – 2014 FIFA World Cup
1 Navas 2 Acosta 3 González 4 Umaña 5 Borges 6 Duarte 7 Bolaños 8 Myrie 9 Campbell 10 Ruiz (c) 11 Barrantes 12 Francis 13 Granados 14 Brenes 15 Díaz 16 Gamboa 17 Tejeda 18 Pemberton 19 Miller 20 Calvo 21 Ureña 22 Cubero 23 Cambronero Coach: Pinto

v t e Costa Rica squad – 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup
1 Carvajal 2 Calvo 3 González 4 Umaña 5 Borges 6 Brown 7 Aguilar 8 Myrie 9 Saborío 10 Ruiz (c) 11 McDonald 12 Campbell 13 Angulo 14 Vega 15 Díaz 16 Gamboa 17 Venegas 18 Pemberton 19 Miller 20 Guzmán 21 Ramírez 22 Cubero 23 Alvarado 24 Waston Coach: Wanchope

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