Diogo Santos

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Almeida and the second or paternal family name is Santos.
Diogo Santos
Santos in action for Arouca in 2010
Personal information
Full name Diogo de Almeida Santos[1]
Date of birth (1984-11-13) 13 November 1984 (age 40)[1]
Place of birth Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal[1]
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Retired
Youth career
1995–2003 Oliveirense
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2008 Oliveirense 143 (11)
2008–2009 Gil Vicente 8 (0)
2010–2012 Arouca 53 (5)
2012–2013 Oliveirense 45 (4)
2013–2015 Brașov 25 (0)
2015–2016 Famalicão 37 (1)
2016–2019 Santa Clara 66 (6)
2019–2021 Académico Viseu 46 (5)
2021–2022 Felgueiras 1932 19 (3)
2022-2023 A.D. Castro Daire 25 (1)
Total 466 (35)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:36, 31 August 2024 (UTC)

Diogo de Almeida Santos (born 13 November 1984) is a retired Portuguese professional footballer who played most successfully for U.D. Oliveirense, F.C. Arouca, F.C. Famalicão, C.D. Santa Clara, and A.C. Viseu, as a defensive midfielder. He retired at the end of the 2023 season at the age of 39.

Club career

Born in Vila Franca de Xira, Lisbon District, Santos started his senior career with U.D. Oliveirense, spending his first five seasons in the third division and scoring a career-best five goals in his last. In the 2008 off-season he signed with Gil Vicente F.C. of the Segunda Liga, making his debut in the competition on 24 August in a 1–1 away draw against his former club.[2]

Santos returned to the third tier in January 2010, joining Arouca and helping to promotion in his first year. In 2011–12 he contributed ten appearances and one goal[3] during the first half of the campaign, but finished it with Oliveirense.

On 19 June 2013, Santos moved abroad after agreeing to a two-year contract at SR Brașov in the Romanian Liga I.[4] After featuring sparingly during his spell, he returned to Portugal and its division two by signing a one-year deal with F.C. Famalicão.[5]

Santos joined C.D. Santa Clara in June 2016, reuniting with manager Daniel Ramos in the process.[6] In 2017–18, he scored three times from 26 appearances as the club returned to the Primeira Liga after a 15-year absence.

Santos played his first match in the Portuguese top flight on 12 August 2018 at the age of 33 years and nine months, coming on as a late substitute in a 1–0 away loss to C.S. Marítimo.[7] In the following transfer window, he returned to the second division with Académico Viseu FC.[8][9]

On 27 July 2021, Santos moved to F.C. Felgueiras 1932.[10]

Personal life

In June 2022, Portugal's Supreme Court of Justice allowed Santos to proceed in a lawsuit against American video game company Electronic Arts for the alleged unauthorised use of his name and image in their FIFA series. Citing Lionel Messi's US$50 million deal with the company, he requested at least €53,900.[11] Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport wrote that he was the first footballer to take EA to court, although Zlatan Ibrahimović and Gareth Bale's case against the company had been dismissed; the newspaper also stated that the use of all footballers' images was legitimate due to a deal with the FIFPro trade union.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Diogo" (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Oliveirense-Gil Vicente, 1–1: Equipa da casa empata dos [sic] descontos" [Oliveirense-Gil Vicente, 1–1: Home team draw in injury time]. Record (in Portuguese). 24 August 2008. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  3. ^ "Oliveirense-Arouca-Oliveirense, 3–3: Empate em jogo louco" [Arouca-Oliveirense, 3–3: Draw in crazy match]. Record (in Portuguese). 11 December 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  4. ^ "FC Braşov îşi anunţă candidatura la un loc fruntaş în Liga 1 » Primele două transferuri" [FC Braşov announce candidacy to lead role in League 1 » The first two transfers]. Gazeta Sporturilor (in Romanian). 19 June 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  5. ^ "Diogo Santos é o terceiro reforço" [Diogo Santos is the third addition]. Record (in Portuguese). 24 June 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  6. ^ "Diogo Santos garantido" [Diogo Santos confirmed]. Record (in Portuguese). 10 June 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  7. ^ Caires, Raul (12 August 2018). "Marítimo-Santa Clara, 1–0 (crónica)" [Marítimo-Santa Clara, 1–0 (match report)] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  8. ^ "Académico de Viseu recebe quarto reforço de inverno" [Académico de Viseu get fourth winter addition]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 31 January 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  9. ^ "Diogo Santos deixa Santa Clara e é 'reforço de inverno' do Académico de Viseu" [Diogo Santos leaves Santa Clara and is an Académico de Viseu 'winter addition']. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). 31 January 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  10. ^ "Diogo Santos (ex-Ac. Viseu) reforça Felgueiras". Semanário de Felgueiras (in Portuguese). 27 July 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  11. ^ "Futebolista português exige indemnização por uso "abusivo" da imagem nos videojogos FIFA" [Portuguese footballer demands compensation for "abusive" use of his image in FIFA video games]. Record (in Portuguese). 23 June 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  12. ^ Sirio, Paolo (24 June 2022). "Diogo Santos contro EA: è il primo calciatore che fa causa a FIFA" [Diogo Santos against EA: he is the first footballer to take FIFA to court]. La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 24 June 2022.