Diego Rivarola
Diego Gabriel Rivarola Popón (born July 14, 1976) is a Chilean-Argentine[1] former professional footballer who played as striker.
 Rivarola in 2018 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Diego Gabriel Rivarola Popón | ||
| Date of birth | July 14, 1976 | ||
| Place of birth | Mendoza, Argentina | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Leonardo Murialdo | |||
| River Plate | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1996–1997 | River Plate | 0 | (0) |
| 1997–1998 | Platense | 8 | (0) |
| 1999 | Santiago Morning | 23 | (13) |
| 2000–2001 | Universidad de Chile | 57 | (23) |
| 2002 | Atlas | 21 | (2) |
| 2003–2005 | Universidad de Chile | 100 | (37) |
| 2006 | Argentinos Juniors | 17 | (3) |
| 2006–2007 | Maracaibo | 14 | (6) |
| 2007 | Palestino | 20 | (5) |
| 2008 | Alki Larnaca | 12 | (1) |
| 2008–2009 | Santiago Morning | 55 | (29) |
| 2010–2011 | Universidad de Chile | 63 | (24) |
| Total | 390 | (143) | |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Career
Rivarola was born in Mendoza, Argentina. As a child, he was with Club Leonardo Murialdo in Mendoza,[2] next he was formed in the lower River Plate,[3] but did not debut with the first team. Later he moved to Platense, where he played eight games.[4]
In 1997, he was hired by Santiago Morning, of Chile until 2000 when he would join Universidad de Chile. His first stint with the Santiago-based club would last five years (interrupted by a brief stay at Mexican Atlas in 2002), during which he became one of the most liked players of the team, due in part to his performances at the derbies against Colo-Colo. With Universidad de Chile, Rivarola would win the Chilean National Championship in 2000 and Apertura Tournament in 2004.
At the beginning of 2006, and after conflicts with then coach of the Universidad de Chile, Héctor Pinto, Rivarola signed with Argentinos Juniors, but failed to establish himself as part of the team's starting 11 and moved to the Venezuelan club UA Maracaibo few months later.
In mid-2007 and for Torneo de Clausura, he signed with Palestino of Chile, led by his former Universidad de Chile teammate, Luis Musrri.
After playing for Santiago Morning, Rivarola moved back to Universidad de Chile, eventually appearing in the 2010 Copa Libertadores. On 2011 he won the Apertura Tournament with La "U" after six years from his last championship.
On August 28, 2011 he scored his 100th goal with Universidad de Chile in a match against Universidad de Concepción for the Clausura Tournament.
Post retirement
In 2016, Rivarola represented the futsal team of Universidad de Chile in the national championship of the ANFP alongside another former football players such as Nelson Pinto, César Henríquez and Juan González.[5]
From 2012 to 2022, Rivarola worked as an ambassador of Universidad de Chile,[6] at the same time he was in charge of the both business and marketing areas.[2] In February 2022, he joined ESPN Chile, along with the former footballer Jean Beausejour, as a football commentator and analyst.[1]
Career statistics
- As of December 11, 2011[7]
| Club | Season | League | Continental | Cup | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Santiago Morning | Torneo 1999 | Chilean Primera División | 23 | 13 | 23 | 13 | ||||
| Universidad de Chile | Torneo 2000 | Chilean Primera División | 27 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 30 | 12 |
| Torneo 2001 | Chilean Primera División | 30 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 34 | 14 | |||
| Apertura 2003 | Chilean Primera División | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 | |||||
| Clausura 2003 | Chilean Primera División | 16 | 11 | 16 | 11 | |||||
| Apertura 2004 | Chilean Primera División | 24 | 13 | 24 | 13 | |||||
| Clausura 2004 | Chilean Primera División | 16 | 4 | 16 | 4 | |||||
| Apertura 2005 | Chilean Primera División | 13 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 21 | 5 | |||
| Clausura 2005 | Chilean Primera División | 21 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 7 | |||
| Total | 157 | 60 | 17 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 178 | 71 | ||
| Palestino | Clausura 2007 | Chilean Primera División | 20 | 5 | 20 | 5 | ||||
| Santiago Morning | Clausura 2008 | Chilean Primera División | 18 | 7 | 18 | 7 | ||||
| Apertura 2009 | Chilean Primera División | 18 | 9 | 18 | 9 | |||||
| Clausura 2009 | Chilean Primera División | 19 | 13 | 19 | 13 | |||||
| Total | 55 | 29 | 55 | 29 | ||||||
| Universidad de Chile | Torneo 2010 | Chilean Primera División | 31 | 16 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 47 | 17 |
| Apertura 2011 | Chilean Primera División | 18 | 5 | 18 | 5 | |||||
| Clausura 2011 | Chilean Primera División | 17 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 22 | 5 | |
| Total | 66 | 24 | 15 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 87 | 27 | ||
| Career total | 321 | 131 | 32 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 353 | 144 | ||
Honours
Universidad de Chile
References
- "Diego Rivarola tiene nuevo desafío tras su salida de la U". www.encancha.cl (in Spanish). February 26, 2022. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
- Rivitera, Gustavo (May 15, 2021). "Diego Rivarola: "La U es el lugar donde siempre quise estar"". Diario Uno (in Spanish). Retrieved June 7, 2022.
- Diego Rivarola was hoping to reach a "large" Argentina, on Radio Cooperativa.
- Rivarola: "I wanted to return to play in Argentina" in TODOFUTBOL.CL.
- "U. de Chile debutó con empate en Campeonato Nacional de Futsal de la ANFP". DeporteAzul (in Spanish). September 12, 2016. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
- Mardones, Felipe (February 25, 2022). "Cambió de rubro: Universidad de Chile despidió a Diego Rivarola y se unió a canal deportivo". Central ✪ Deportes (in Spanish). Retrieved June 7, 2022.
- Historial de Diego Gabriel Rivarola Popón Como Jugador
External links
- (in Spanish) Argentine Primera statistics