Luis Mario Díaz Espinoza (born 6 December 1998) is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as a winger for Major League Soccer club Columbus Crew and the Costa Rica national team.[1]
![]() Diaz with Columbus Crew in 2019 | |||
Personal information | |||
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Full name | Luis Mario Díaz Espinoza | ||
Date of birth | (1998-12-06) 6 December 1998 (age 23) | ||
Place of birth | Nicoya, Costa Rica | ||
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
Position(s) | Winger | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | Columbus Crew | ||
Number | 12 | ||
Youth career | |||
AD Guanacasteca | |||
0000–2016 | Grecia | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2016–2018 | Grecia | 45 | (2) |
2019 | Herediano | 19 | (1) |
2019– | Columbus Crew | 78 | (6) |
National team‡ | |||
2017–2018 | Costa Rica U20 | ||
2021 | Costa Rica U23 | 3 | (0) |
2019– | Costa Rica | 7 | |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 03:26, 6 October 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 26 July 2021 |
Díaz started his career in the Segunda División de Costa Rica with Municipal Grecia. In the 2016–17 season, he and Grecia earned promotion to Liga FPD, the first division of Costa Rican football.[2] Over the summer of 2018, Díaz was the subject of transfer rumors from Herediano;[3] he would officially join Herediano for the 2019 Clausura.[4] On July 2, 2019, it was announced that Díaz had been transferred to Major League Soccer club Columbus Crew SC for $1 million, and would join the club as a Young Designated Player.[5][6]
Díaz made his Columbus debut on July 17th against the Chicago Fire.[7] Coming on in the 65th minute for Eduardo Sosa, Diaz assisted fellow debutant Romario Williams in scoring a 90th minute equalizer as part of a 2–2 draw.[7] He went on to finish the 2019 season making 13 appearances along with two goals and four assists.[8] During the 2020 season, Diaz was part of the Columbus team that won the 2020 MLS Cup, making a total of 25 appearances for the club.[8][9] Though Diaz was in and out of the starting lineup throughout the season, he started three out of four of the club's playoff games, including the final in which Columbus beat the Seattle Sounders 3–0.[9]
He made his Costa Rica national team debut on 6 September 2019 in a friendly against Uruguay, when he replaced Joel Campbell in the 68th minute and was cautioned in the remaining minutes.[10]
Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental[lower-alpha 1] | Other | Total | ||||||
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Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Grecia | 2016–17 | Segunda División | 0 | 0 | – | – | 2[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
2017–18 | Liga FPD | 27 | 2 | – | – | – | 27 | 2 | ||||
2018–19 | Liga FPD | 18 | 0 | – | – | – | 18 | 0 | ||||
Total | 45 | 2 | – | – | 2 | 0 | 47 | 2 | ||||
Herediano | 2018–19 | Liga FPD | 19 | 1 | – | 2 | 0 | 2[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 23 | 1 | |
Columbus Crew | 2019 | MLS | 13 | 2 | – | – | – | 13 | 2 | |||
2020 | 21 | 0 | – | – | 4 | 0 | 25 | 0 | ||||
2021 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 1 | ||
Career total | 116 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 131 | 6 |
Costa Rica | ||
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Year | Apps | Goals |
2019 | 2 | 0 |
2020 | 2 | 0 |
2021 | 4 | 0 |
Total | 8 | 0 |
Columbus Crew
Columbus Crew – current squad | |
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Costa Rica squad – 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup | ||
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