Ramón Díaz

River Plate

Born in La Rioja, Díaz was a youth product of River Plate, being a spotlight under youth manager Norberto Yácono. He made his first team – Primera División – debut on 13 August 1978, starting in a 1–0 win over Colón, as the club used an alternative lineup as the first team regulars were out on a trip to Europe. Díaz scored his first goal on 30 August 1978, in a 1–1 draw against Quilmes. He went on to become a regular starter for the club, notably scoring 22 league goals in the 1980 season.

Italy

In 1982, Díaz moved abroad for the first time in his career, signing for Italian Serie A side Napoli. Despite finishing his first and only season at the club as the top scorer with eight goals overall, Napoli's campaign was disappointing as they finished in the 10th position, only two points away from relegation. In 1983, Díaz joined Avellino initially on loan, being a regular starter during his three-season spell and scoring 11 goals in the 1985–86 campaign. In July 1986, he moved to Fiorentina for a 10 billion lire fee. On 21 July 1988, Díaz agreed to a loan deal with Inter Milan as a replacement to Rabah Madjer, which had failed his medical. Despite scoring 15 goals overall in the season, being the club's second-best goalscorer (only behind Aldo Serena), he was not purchased by Inter and subsequently replaced by Jürgen Klinsmann.

Monaco, River Plate return and retirement

In 1989, Díaz moved to French club Monaco, and won the 1990–91 Coupe…

Díaz was on the Argentina under-20 team that won the 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship, alongside Diego Maradona. Díaz and Maradona were the core of the attack-minded team, and together scored 14 of the team's 20 goals (70%). Díaz scored 8 goals, winning the Golden Boot for being the top scorer of the competition. Maradona scored 6 goals, winning the Best Player award. Díaz then went on to play in the 1982 FIFA World Cup and scored against Brazil in Argentina's 3–1 defeat. It had been rumoured that he and Maradona were involved in a feud which prevented Díaz from playing for Argentina in the 1986 and 1990 World Cups. However, this was denied by Maradona in his autobiography Yo soy el Diego, claiming that he had told the then-Argentina manager, Carlos Bilardo, that he wanted Diaz in both the 1986 and 1990 World Cup squads.

River Plate

In 1995, Díaz was named manager of his first club River Plate, replacing sacked Carlos Babington; his intentions at the time were to play for the club before retiring, but president Alfredo Davicce invited him as manager instead. His first match in charge of the club occurred on 26 July, a 1–1 Copa Libertadores draw against Vélez Sarsfield. Díaz notably won the 1996 Libertadores and the 1997 Supercopa Libertadores with River, aside from four league titles in his first spell. He resigned from the club in February 2000, after a 2–1 friendly loss to rivals Boca Juniors and after having altercations with the club's board. On 23 June 2001, Díaz agreed to return to River, replacing his successor Américo Gallego. He won another league title (the 2002 Clausura Tournament), but was replaced by Manuel Pellegrini on 20 May 2002, as the club opted to not renew his contract.

Oxford United

On 9 December 2004, Díaz replaced Graham Rix as manager of English League Two club Oxford United. At the time, Díaz told the media: "I like English football and I wanted to get first-hand experience of it...I'd seen plenty of it on television... It's also very interesting to work at this level, because it's completely different from football at the top." It was also claimed that neither Díaz nor any of his five backroom staff were being paid by Oxford United for their services. On 4 May 2005, Díaz resigned from Oxford after "negotiations over a new contract broke…

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International