Diego Tardelli is a Brazilian professional footballer playing as an attacking midfielder at Shandong Luneng, China, at number 9. He is a dynamic player who is able to change the balance of the game due to his speed and individual skill. He has excellent scoring flair and dribbling, plays well on the second floor with his modest growth of 179 centimeters.
Earlier in his career, he performed at such famous clubs as Brazilian São Paulo, Dutch PSV, Spanish Real Betis and Russian Anji. In addition to the above, he played in many Brazilian clubs. From 2009 to the present, he has been a player in the national team of Brazil. Recognized as the best footballer of 2009 in Brazil, during his appearances for Atlético Mineiro, in which he became the first goalie of the Brazilian championship.
Biography and the beginning of a football career
Diego Tardelli was born on May 10, 1985 in the city of Santa Barbara d'Oesti (state of Sao Paulo, Brazil). He began to play football in the youth system of the SĂŁo Paulo club. He also performed in the youth teams of Santos and Uniao Barbarence.
His professional career began in 2003 in São Paulo. In 2005, he won the Libertadores Cup. In 2006, three times it was “leased” to such clubs as Real Betis (Spain), San Caetano (Brazil) and the Dutch PSV. As part of the latter, he played in 13 matches (scored three goals) and became the Dutch champion in 2007.
Returning to the disposal of “São Paulo”, he became the champion of Brazil in 2007.
In 2008, he joined the Flamengo club, but in its composition he stayed for a very short time - he spent 16 fights and moved to another club. However, here the football player became the champion of the state of Rio de Janeiro in 2008.
Career at Atletico Mineiro
On January 12, 2009, the Brazilian footballer signed a contract with the “cocks”, which included became the top scorer in Brazil. Currently, the player still retains leadership in the standings of Arthur Friedenreich. This prize is awarded to the players who scored the most goals in all Brazilian tournaments in one gaming year.
In total, from 2009 to 2011, he played 60 matches for Mineiro and became the author of 29 goals.
Transfer to Anji and Al-Gharafa
In March 2011, Diego Tardelli signed a 4-year contract with Makhachkala “Anji” for 7.5 million euros. Here he could not adapt to Russian football and soon left the team, playing for her in 13 fights.
On January 10, 2012, it became known that Tardelli transferred to the Qatari club Al-Gharafa for 7 million euros. He made his debut here on January 20 in the match against Al-Khor (2-0 victory). As part of the Qatari club, the Brazilian soccer player spent 23 matches and recorded 13 goals in his statistics.
Return to Atletico Mineiro
Diego Tardelli spent the 2013/14 season at the well-known Mineiro. The return of the Brazilian became known from his mother, who via Twitter announced that Tardelli again signed a contract with Atlético Mineiro. For a long time, the amount of the transfer transaction was not disclosed, but later it became known that the Brazilian was bought for 5.25 million euros. Despite the fact that the contract was signed for 4 years, Diego spent only one season here, in which he played 50 matches and scored 17 goals. Here he became the champion of Minas Gerais, the owner of the Libertadores Cup and the Brazil Cup.
Diego Tardelli at Shandong Luneng
On January 17, 2015, the Brazilian moved to China, where he signed an agreement with Handong Luneng. He made his debut on February 14 as part of the Chinese Football Association Super Cup against the Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao Club. The score was not open until the 120th minute. In the penalty shootout, Shandun won 3-5, Diego scored first.
On July 13, 2015, Tardelli scored a double into the net of Shijiazhuang Ever Bright. In total, he played 40 matches for the Chinese club and scored 23 goals (statistics at the time of October 2017).
International career: performance statistics
In 2005, he played 2 matches as part of the youth team under 20 years old.
Diego Tardelli was called up to the adult team on July 28, 2009. He made his debut in a friendly match against Estonia on August 12.
May 11, 2010 was called for matches of the qualifying round of the World Cup 2010 as one of seven reserve players.
On October 11, 2014, in the framework of the American Superclassico Cup in Beijing, Diego Tardelli scored a double against the Argentine national team (score 2-0). In May 2015, he was included in the national team (23 people) to participate in the Copa America tournament. In October 2017, he was called up for games against Bolivia and Chile. In total, for the "yellow-green" spent 14 matches and was marked by three goals.