Diego Tristán

Diego Tristán

Personal information
Full name	Diego Tristán Herrera
Date of birth	5 January 1976 (1976-01-05) (age 35)
Place of birth	La Algaba, Spain
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Striker
Youth career
	Betis
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1995–1998	Betis B	95	(23)
1998–1999	Mallorca B	39	(15)
1999–2000	Mallorca	35	(18)
2000–2006	Deportivo La Coruña	177	(87)
2006–2007	Mallorca	13	(0)
2007–2008	Livorno	21	(1)
2008–2009	West Ham	14	(3)
2009–2010	Cádiz	29	(8)
National team
2001–2003	Spain	15	(4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Tristán and the second or maternal family name is Herrera.

Diego Tristán Herrera (born 5 January 1976) is a retired Spanish professional footballer.

At his peak, he was considered amongst the best strikers in Europe, displaying a vast array of skills: dribble, shot accuracy, aerial ability and off-the-ball movements; he is best known for his Deportivo de La Coruña spell, where he played six full seasons.

Over the course of eight La Liga seasons, Tristán amassed totals of 227 games and 95 goals. He appeared at the 2002 FIFA World Cup with the Spanish national team.

Club career

Born in La Algaba, Province of Seville, Tristán came through the youth ranks of local Real Betis, going on to finish his sporting formation with the B side of RCD Mallorca. After one season in Segunda División, he made his La Liga debut in 1999–2000, against CD Numancia on 12 September 1999 (scoring in the process), and finished his first top flight season with 18 goals.

After nearly moving to league powerhouse Real Madrid during the 2000 summer, deal barred by Lorenzo Sanz's exit from the club's presidency, Tristán joined Galician club Deportivo de La Coruña, forming a dreaded offensive partnership (on occasions, as Depor mainly operated in a 4–5–1 formation) with Dutchman Roy Makaay.

As Makaay was first-choice during 2000–01, Tristán threatened to quit Deportivo, when he found himself in and out of the side, but eventually became an undisputed starter during the following season and responded, netting 21 league goals (competition best) for the Javier Irureta-led side. He added six in the season's UEFA Champions League and five in the Copa del Rey (totalling 32);^[1] this included a hat-trick against former side Mallorca (5–0 home win), on 7 April 2002.^[2]

Afterwards, Tristán injured his ankle on international duty, losing again the starting berth to Makaay, who even won the European Golden Boot for his performances. Tristán could not adapt to his secondary role, but still scored 19 goals overall during that season.

Even when Makaay left Deportivo in June 2003, for FC Bayern Munich, Tristán never regained his form and confidence. In the 2003–04 season, he played just 10 full matches and was taken off in 20. His 18 further appearances as substitute made him miss only eight out of 56 matches, but he only produced 13 goals (eight in the league, two in domestic cup and three in the Champions League). However, his strike against AS Monaco FC (in a 3–8 away defeat on 5 November 2003) was chosen by Eurosport as the competition's Goal of the Year.^{[citation needed]}

In total, Tristán scored 87 goals in the shirt of Deportivo in four seasons, leaving the club in July 2006. He was released on 1 September 2006, along with teammate Lionel Scaloni.^[3] After being linked with several clubs in Spain and overseas, including Bolton Wanderers, he agreed to rejoin Mallorca after a six-year hiatus,^[4] but was released on 31 January 2007, due to a lack of fitness, form and goals.

Tristán signed a one-year contract with Serie A side A.S. Livorno Calcio in July 2007, as the Italians searched for a replacement for Ukraine-bound Cristiano Lucarelli,^[5] whom signed with FC Shakhtar Donetsk, but he ultimately failed to impress with the Tuscany team, scoring only once during the season, in which Livorno eventually dropped to the second division.

On 30 September 2008 it was confirmed Tristán was undergoing a trial at West Ham United of the Premier League.^[6] On 14 October, he signed a first-team contract with the team,^[7] making his debut on December 8, coming on as a substitute in the 83rd minute in a 0–2 home defeat against Tottenham Hotspur.^[8] He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 home victory over Stoke City, on 28 December, also coming from the bench.^[9]

On 24 July 2009, Tristán joined second division club Cádiz CF - returning to native Andalusia after 14 years - after having been released by West Ham at the end of the season.^[10] He regained some of his scoring form in his first and only season, but his club was relegated; in the last league match, a 4–2 home win against Numancia on 19 June 2010 - with the striker scoring a brace - proved insufficient, as Cádiz ranked 19th (the first team in the relegation zone).

International career

On 2 June 2001, Tristán, courtesy of his stellar Deportivo performances, earned a debut for the Spanish national team, scoring in a 4–1 home win against Bosnia and Herzegovina, in a 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier in Oviedo. In the finals in South Korea and Japan, wearing shirt #10, he appeared sparingly for the quarterfinalists after picking up an injury,^[11] and did not manage to find the net.

Tristán accordingly scored on his last cap, a 3–0 friendly win in Portugal, on 6 September 2003.

International goals

Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	2 June 2001	Estadio Carlos Tartiere, Oviedo, Spain	Bosnia and Herzegovina	4–1	Win	2002 World Cup qualification
2	1 September 2001	Estadio Mestalla, Valencia, Spain	Austria	4–0	Win	2002 World Cup qualification
3	2 April 2003	Estadio Reino de León, León, Spain	Armenia	3–0	Win	Euro 2004 qualifying
4	6 September 2003	Estádio D. Afonso Henriques, Guimarães, Portugal	Portugal	3–0	Win	Friendly

Honours

Club

• Deportivo:
  • Spanish Cup: 2001–02
  • Spanish Supercup: 2000, 2002

Individual

• Pichichi Trophy: 2002

Statistics

Club

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Spain			League		Copa del Rey		Copa de la Liga		Europe		Total
1999/00	Mallorca	La Liga	35	18			-		11	5
2000/01	Deportivo	La Liga	29	19			-		11	2
2001/02			33	21	6	6	-		12	6	51	33
2002/03			23	9	8	6	-		10	4	41	19
2003/04			33	8	3	2	-		11	4	47	14
2004/05			23	9	2	2	-		1	0	26	11
2005/06			36	11			-		5	1
2006/07	Mallorca	La Liga	13	0	2	0	-		-		15	0
Italy			League		Coppa Italia		League Cup		Europe		Total
2007/08	Livorno	Serie A	21	1
England			League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
2008/09	West Ham	Premier League	14	3
Spain			League		Copa del Rey		Copa de la Liga		Europe		Total
2009/10	Cádiz	Segunda División	29	8			-	-
Country	Spain		254	103
	Italy		21	1
	England		14	3
Total			289	107

International

Spain national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2001	5	2
2002	6	0
2003	4	2
Total	15	4

References

1. ^ Golden Shoe: Tristán moves up after treble
2. ^ Weekend review: Tristán treble lifts Deportivo
3. ^ Deportivo's Tristán and Scaloni released from contracts
4. ^ Striker Tristán agrees a return to Real Mallorca
5. ^ Tristán to fill Lucarelli void
6. ^ Ashton out for Hammers until 2009
7. ^ Tristán deal completed
8. ^ West Ham 0-2 Tottenham
9. ^ West Ham 2-1 Stoke
10. ^ Tristan joins Cádiz
11. ^ Tristán ordered to rest injured ankle

External links

• BDFutbol profile
• National team data (Spanish)
• Diego Tristán career stats at Soccerbase
• Diego Tristán – FIFA competition record
• FootballDatabase profile and stats

Persondata
Name	Tristan, Diego
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	5 January 1976
Place of birth	La Algaba, Spain
Date of death
Place of death