for an 88th-minute winner. During his second season with Adelaide United, he established himself as an excellent defensive and central midfielder, not only for Adelaide but in the whole A-League, and was regarded by his teammates as the outstanding player of the 2008 Asian Champions League campaign. He was the team's top goal scorer with 4 goals helping Adelaide United reach the 2008 Asian Champions League final for the first time. Adelaide United ended up losing the final to Gamba Osaka of Japan. In a shock decision for Adelaide fans, Diego was released by the club on 20 January 2009. Adelaide coach Aurelio Vidmar cited Diego's 19 starts out of a possible 41 in two seasons, as a key factor in the decision. "He missed 50 per cent of the games due to injury – hamstrings, quads and back," said Vidmar. He was signed up by the Wellington Phoenix, on a two-year contract and became a firm favorite with the Wellington Phoenix supporter's group Yellow Fever. On 20 May 2011 it was announced that he had signed a temporary contract with Charleston Battery. On 6 July 2011 it was announced in the Thai media that Diego had taken up a contract with Thai Premier League team TOT S.C. He is currently an assistant coach at NCAA D1 program Grand Canyon University. A-League career statistics References 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Santos, São Paulo Brazilian footballers Brazilian expatriate footballers Brazilian people of American descent Columbus Crew players Charleston Battery players Sporting Kansas City players Real Salt Lake players Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand Wellington Phoenix FC players Adelaide United FC players Major League Soccer players A-League Men players Miami FC (2006) players Expatriate soccer players in Australia Expatriate soccer players in the United States SMU Mustangs men's soccer players Expatriate association footballers in New Zealand USL First Division players USL Championship players Columbus Crew draft picks Expatriate footballers in Thailand Association football midfielders All-American men's college soccer players