Diego Rodríguez (footballer, born 1960)


Diego Rodríguez Fernández, known simply as Diego, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a central defender.
During his professional career, which spanned nearly two decades, he played for both Seville clubs, Betis and Sevilla, appearing in a total of 450 La Liga matches.

Club career

Diego was born in La Orotava, Tenerife. Having started professionally with local CD Tenerife he joined Real Betis for the 1982–83 season, playing nearly 250 official matches and scoring four La Liga goals.
After six years, Diego joined Andalusia neighbours Sevilla FC, continuing as an undisputed starter almost until his final campaign, which was 1995–96. His lowest output with the club consisted of 24 games in the 1994–95 season, starting in all his appearances as the side qualified for the UEFA Cup as fifth.
Diego retired professionally in June 1998 at the age of 38, after competing in the second division with Albacete Balompié, but still played well into his 40s with another team in his region of adoption, amateur Dos Hermanas CF. In early 2002, immediately after quitting football, he began his coaching career, acting as assistant to Alfonso Guzmán at third level's Ciudad de Murcia but replacing him for the final ten matches of the season.
In 2008, Diego returned to Sevilla, starting with the C-team and upgrading the following year to the reserves. His first game in charge of the latter was a 0–8 away loss against Hércules CF for the division two championship, and, in mid-February 2010, he was sacked.

International career

Diego earned one cap for the Spain national team, appearing in the second half of a 1–2 friendly loss with Czechoslovakia on 24 February 1988, in Málaga. He was subsequently picked for the squad that appeared at that year's UEFA European Championship.