Diego Ribas da Cunha or famously known as Diego is a professional football player who plays as an attacking midfielder for Brazilian national team and the Brazilian professional football club, Flamengo.
He has also played for top professional football clubs such as Porto, Werder Bremen, Juventus and Atletico Madrid.
After playing for the U23 team of Brazil and representing the team at 2008 Summer Olympics, he made his senior international debut for Brazil in 2003.
He played at the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup and Copa America in 2004 and 2007 editions.
Diego holds a Brazilian nationality. He was born on 28 February 1985 in Ribeirao Preto, Brazil. After impressing and showing his talents at clubs such as Ribeirao Preto and Sao Carlos, he joined the youth club of Santos FC in 2012.
His salary is estimated more than a million dollar which he earns from his current club, Flamengo and has a market worth in the region of € 4.5 million as of 2017. Back in 2016, his weekly wage was reported to be €70K.
Looking at his professional football career, his total net worth could be above $5 million. He has an endorsement deal with Adidas.
After playing for the junior team of Santos FC, he joined the main team in 2002 and went to win the Campeonato Brasileiro in 2002 and 2004. He was then approached by Portuguese football club, FC Porto and signed him in 2004 and expected to him to be the successor of Portuguese midfielder, Deco.
Diego made his debut for Porto against Uniao de Leiria on 22 August 2004 and scored his first goal against Nacional on 30 October 2004.
After winning the Portuguese Liga in 2005/06, he left Porto in 2006 and signed with German Bundesliga giants, Werder Bremen in May 2006 for a transfer fee of €6 million and made his Bundesliga debut against Bayern Munich on 5 August 2006.
He scored his first goal for Bremen against Hannover 96 on 13 August 2006.
After a successful stint with Werder Bremen, he moved to Italy and signed a five-year contract with Italian Serie A club, Juventus FC on 26 May 2009 for a reported transfer fee worth €24.5 million.
He scored his first Serie A goal against Roma on August 30, 2009, and later was sent to the German club Vfl Wolfsburg for a record fee of $15.5 million in 2010. Soon after, he was sent on a loan to La Liga club Atletico Madrid for 2011/12 season.
Diego signed a permanent contract with Atletico Madrid in early 2014 and made his debut against Real Sociedad as well as scoring his first goal as being the permanent player for Atletico Madrid.
He then signed a three-year contract with Turkish football club, Fenerbahce in summer of 2014 and made his debut against Karabukspor. He made over 50 appearances and scored 5 goals during his playing stint with Fenerbahce.
Diego is currently playing for Brazilian football club, Flamengo with whom he signed a three contract in July 2016 and made his debut and scoring his first goal for Flamengo against Gremio on 21 August 2016.
He made his international debut for Brazil against Mexico in a friendly match in April 2003 and scored his first international goal for Brazil against Honduras during 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup on 16 July 2003.
Diego was an important player that helped Brazil to win the Copa America in 2007.
Overall, he has made 34 appearances and scored four goals for Brazil since his debut in 2003.
He along with players such as striker Neymar, midfielder, Giuliano and defender, David Luiz has been recently called up by Brazilian squads in the last 12 months.
Diego, currently 33 years old, stands at a height of 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing around 73 kg. He is of Italian background through his grandparents.
He married his wife, Bruna Letícia Araujo on May 28 at the St. Gabriel Church in Sao Paulo. Bruna is a physiotherapist and the couple dated for 8 years before getting married. His girlfriend lived in Brazil before moving to Italy with him following their marriage.
The couple is blessed with two sons, Davi born in 2011 and Matteo born in 2013.
Diego previously had an affair with pop singer Sarah Connor.
