nationalcaps birth_date currentclub pcupdate years youthyears caps goals nationalyears image name caption fullname ntupdate birth_place nationalteam height clubnumber nationalgoals youthclubs clubs position article_title
7 31 30 december 1986 hamburger sv 23 may 2015 1997 -- 2005 2010 2012 -- 2015 2015 -- 1997 -- 2005 164 13 58 7 4 5 7 0 2005 2011 -- marcelo 2013.jpg díaz - spain vs. chile , 10th september marcelo díaz díaz against spain in september 2013 marcelo alfonso díaz rojas 19 november 2014 santiago , chile chile u20 chile 1.66 0 21 0 1 universidad de chile universidad basel hamburger sv de chile → la serena -lrb- loan -rrb- midfielder marcelo díaz

marcelo díaz

marcelo alfonso díaz rojas -lrb- ; born 30 december 1986 -rrb- is a chilean footballer who plays for bundesliga club hamburger sv and for the chilean national team as a midfielder .
díaz came through universidad de chile youth academy , and was promoted to the first team in 2004 , when he was 18 .
since then he played 162 matches with the club and won five titles .
he was an integral part of the team that won three consecutive national championships and the 2011 copa sudamericana , the club 's first international title .
he made his international debut in january 2005 , playing for chile at the u20 level .
he made his adult international debut six years later on 11 november 2011 , when the coach claudio borghi called-up him for play the 2014 fifa world cup qualification games against uruguay at centenario and paraguay at chile .
mainly as a central midfielder or a deep-lying playmaker , he can also play as a defensive midfielder or attacking midfielder .
after his stellar play with jorge sampaoli as coach in universidad de chile , winning the 2011 copa sudamericana , and due to similarities in their playing , díaz earned the nickname of `` south american xavi '' , as both of them have a great ball control capabilities and excellent passing skills .
on 1 june 2015 he scored a 91st minute free kick goal that helped save hamburger sv from its first ever relegation and is considered by many to be one of the most important goals in the club 's 128-year history .
