Diego Ribas da Cunha

Santos

At age six, Diego started to show his talent when training with Comercial FC in Ribeirão Preto. After joining another team, São Carlos, when he was nine, Diego decided to take trials in the hope of impressing a bigger club. Diego was first signed by the São Paulo team Santos at the age of 12. He developed while in the Santos youth system, making his first team debut at the age of 16 in the Rio-São Paulo Championship in 2002 and in the same year won the domestic Campeonato Brasileiro championship. He, Robinho, Elano and Alex were known as a famous group when they played for Santos.

Porto

Diego was then signed by Primeira Liga club Porto in July 2004 as a replacement and the potential successor for Deco, but he could not produce the same calibre of performances as he did at Santos. Diego made his debut for Porto in a 1–1 draw against União de Leiria on 22 August and on 30 October, he scored his first goal for Porto in a 2–2 draw against Nacional. As Porto triumphed in the Intercontinental Cup against Once Caldas via a penalty shootout, Diego was sent off for swearing at goalkeeper Juan Carlos Henao after scoring his effort. Journalist Tim Vickery ascribed this action to Diego's experiences against the team in the previous season's Copa Libertadores, in which the physical Colombian side eliminated Santos in the quarter-finals. In his first season at Porto, Diego made 30 appearances, scoring two goals against Sporting CP and Braga. In 2005–06, however,…

Diego made his international debut in April 2003 in a friendly match against Mexico. He was later included in Brazil under-23 team that competed in 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup alongside Santos' teammate Robinho. Although Brazil compete as an under-23 team, the international appearances and goals were recorded as FIFA acknowledge the tournament as senior team matches. He appeared five times and scored two goals as Brazil U-23 lost out to the Mexico senior team in the final. In 2004, Diego was called up for the Brazil national squad for the 2004 Copa América, and he was instrumental in securing the tournament victory for Brazil when he scored in the penalty shootout against Argentina in the final. Due to his decline in performance with Porto between 2004 and 2006, Diego was often left out of the Brazil squad. He was mostly playing as deputy to Kaká and was also left out of the Brazil squad for the 2006 World Cup. He was then included in Brazil's squad for the 2007 Copa América, which Brazil went on to win, once again defeating Argentina in the final. Before the 2008 Summer Olympics, he was involved in squad controversy. Specifically, Werder Bremen (to send Diego) along with Schalke 04 (Rafinha), both to Brazil, and Barcelona (Lionel Messi) to Argentina, did not want to release their players for the Olympic games so that they could help them in their domestic and European competitions. The case was taken to FIFA, which ruled that all clubs should release their players aged under 23…

Diego was a creative offensive playmaker known for his technique, dribbling ability, vision and accurate passing; usually deployed as an attacking midfielder, he was also capable of playing as a supporting forward or on the wing on occasion. As well as being an effective assist provider, he was also known for his goalscoring ability, and he was an accurate set-piece taker. Diego was also known for his trickery and ball-skills, such as his use of back-heels, feints and overhead kicks, among an assortment of other tricks.

Diego is of Italian ancestry, with both of his paternal great-grandparents emigrating from Italy to Brazil. His great-grandfather, Carlo Lazzari, came from Ferrara, and his great-grandmother, Maria Concetta Viola, came from Naples. As a result of his Italian ancestry, Diego received his Italian passport in 2004. Diego is married to Bruna Letícia Araújo, the couple have three children; two sons Davi (born in 2011) Matteo (born in 2013) and a daughter Letícia (born in 2021).