Diego Klimowicz
Klimowicz as a Borussia Dortmund player
Personal information
Full name Diego Fernando Klimowicz[1]
Date of birth (1974-07-06) 6 July 1974 (age 49)[1]
Place of birth Quilmes, Argentina[1]
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Position(s) Centre-forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–1996 Instituto 57 (12)
1996–1997 Rayo Vallecano 46 (12)
1997–1999 Valladolid 41 (4)
1999–2001 Lanús 77 (41)
2001–2007 VfL Wolfsburg 149 (57)
2007–2009 Borussia Dortmund 38 (6)
2009–2010 VfL Bochum 26 (8)
2011 Instituto 10 (1)
Total 444 (141)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Diego Fernando Klimowicz (born 6 July 1974) is an Argentine former footballer who played as a centre-forward.

He started and finished his 18-year professional career with Instituto, but competed mostly in Spain and Germany, notably amassing Bundesliga totals of 213 games and 71 goals in the latter country.

Club career

Born in Quilmes, Buenos Aires, Klimowicz started his career at Instituto Atlético Central Córdoba in the Primera B Nacional.[2] He was sold to Rayo Vallecano of La Liga in 1996, scoring 11 goals in his first season but being relegated to Segunda División;[3][4] the latter club was later banned from buying or selling foreign players, for failing to pay the accorded sum of 240 million pesetas.[5]

Klimowicz returned to the Spanish top division in December 1997, when he signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with Real Valladolid.[6] After netting just seven times across all competitions during his spell at the Estadio José Zorrilla, however,[7] he returned to his country in 1999 and joined Club Atlético Lanús.[8]

Klimowicz was transferred to VfL Wolfsburg in December 2001,[9] going on to remain in Germany – and its Bundesliga – for the better part of the following decade. He netted a career-best 15 goals in the 2003–04 campaign, helping his team finish in tenth place.[10]

In May 2007, Klimowicz moved to fellow league side Borussia Dortmund on a two-year deal.[11] On 25 August, his brace was crucial to the hosts' 3–0 home defeat of FC Energie Cottbus.[12] He added four goals in their runner-up run in the DFB-Pokal, being booked as a second-half substitute in the decisive match, lost 2–1 to FC Bayern Munich after extra time.[13]

In the 2008–09 winter transfer window, Klimowicz signed with VfL Bochum.[14] On 2 March 2010, the 35-year-old announced his retirement from professional football due to a hip injury;[15]

Klimowicz decided to come back from retirement on 24 December 2010, and re-joined his first team Instituto on a one-year contract.[16]

International career

In 2001, there were talks of Klimowicz playing either for the Poland or the Ukraine national teams,[17] but at the end nothing became materialised.

Personal life

Klimowicz's younger brother, Javier, was also a footballer, as well as his other sibling Nicolás;[18] a goalkeeper, Javier won caps for Ecuador.[19] Klimowicz's grandfather was born in Poland before World War II, in a territory that later became part of Ukraine.[17] His son Mateo was also involved in the sport.[18]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[20][21]
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Instituto 1993–94 Primera B Nacional —
1994–95 —
1995–96 —
Total
Rayo Vallecano 1996–97 La Liga 34 11 8 7 0 0 42 18
1997–98 Segunda División 12 1 2 0 0 0 14 2
Total 46 12 10 7 0 0 56 19
Valladolid 1997–98 La Liga 20 3 2 1 0 0 22 4
1998–99 21 1 4 2 0 0 25 3
Total 41 4 6 3 0 0 47 7
Lanús 1999–00 Argentine Primera División 33 16 — 33 16
2000–01 30 17 — 30 17
2001–02 14 8 — 14 8
Total 77 41 0 0 77 41
VfL Wolfsburg 2001–02 Bundesliga 17 10 1 0 0 0 18 10
2002–03 25 7 2 2 0 0 27 9
2003–04 33 15 2 1 8 5 43 21
2004–05 27 7 1 0 0 0 28 7
2005–06 26 12 1 1 6 1 33 14
2006–07 21 6 3 4 0 0 24 10
Total 149 57 11 4 14 6 174 67
Borussia Dortmund 2007–08 Bundesliga 28 6 6 4 0 0 34 10
2008–09 10 0 1 1 0 0 11 1
Total 38 6 7 5 0 0 45 11
VfL Bochum 2008–09 Bundesliga 11 4 0 0 0 0 11 4
2009–10 15 4 2 1 0 0 17 5
Total 26 8 2 1 0 0 28 9
Instituto 2010–11 Primera B Nacional 10 1 — 10 1
Career total 387 129 36 20 14 6 437 155

Honours

Borussia Dortmund

References

  1. ^ a b c d Diego Klimowicz at WorldFootball.net
  2. ^ Jankowski, Bernd (6 December 2001). "Klimowicz: Tourist oder Debütant" [Klimowicz: Tourist or first-timer] (in German). kicker. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  3. ^ Serres, César (25 May 2007). "Mercato: Diego Klimowicz, Marcell Jansen" [Market: Diego Klimowicz, Marcell Jansen] (in Spanish). Footgol. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  4. ^ "Diego Klimowicz pone fin a su carrera deportiva" [Diego Klimowicz ends his sporting career] (in Spanish). Rayo Herald. 5 August 2010. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  5. ^ "La FIFA castiga al Rayo" [FIFA punishes Rayo]. El País (in Spanish). 1 December 1999. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  6. ^ "Klimowicz, fichado por el Valladolid" [Klimowicz, signed by Valladolid]. El País (in Spanish). 11 December 1997. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  7. ^ Forjas, Francisco (6 April 1998). "La resurrección de Canabal y Klimowicz" [The resurrection of Canabal and Klimowicz]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  8. ^ "Gegen 80.000 ist es besonders schwer" [It's rather difficult against 80.000] (in German). Bundesliga. 25 September 2007. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  9. ^ "Diego Klimowicz – Saison 2001/2002" [Diego Klimowicz – 2001/2002 season] (in German). VfL Wolfsburg. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  10. ^ Kubusch, Lars. "Germany 2003/04". RSSSF. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  11. ^ "Interview mit Diego Klimowicz" [Interview with Diego Klimowicz] (in German). 1. FC Köln. 16 October 2009. Archived from the original on 1 May 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  12. ^ "Dortmund atmet dank Klimowicz tief durch" [Dortmund take a breather thanks to Klimowicz]. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). 25 August 2007. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  13. ^ a b "Luca Toni führt Bayern zum ersten Titel" [Luca Toni leads Bayern to first title]. Rheinische Post (in German). 19 April 2008. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  14. ^ "Klimowicz wechselt von Dortmund nach Bochum" [Klimowicz goes from Dortmund to Bochum] (in German). T-Online. 4 January 2009. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  15. ^ "Klimowicz: Scout in Argentinien" [Klimowicz: Scout in Argentina] (in German). VfL Bochum. 2 March 2010. Archived from the original on 5 March 2010. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  16. ^ "Granadero para la Gloria" [Grenadier for la Gloria]. Olé (in Spanish). 24 December 2010. Archived from the original on 7 July 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2010.
  17. ^ a b "Klimowicz woli Polskę od Ukrainy?" [Is Klimowicz from Poland and Ukraine?] (in Polish). Sport. 7 May 2002. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  18. ^ a b Villalobo, Marcos J. (21 December 2017). "Código Klimowicz" [Klimowicz code]. El Gráfico (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  19. ^ "Hermano de Klimowicz es traspasado al Bochum alemán" [Klimowicz's brother is transferred to Germany's Bochum]. El Universo (in Spanish). 4 January 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  20. ^ "D. Klimowicz". Soccerway. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  21. ^ "Diego Klimowicz". Footballdatabase. Retrieved 15 December 2016.

External links

Copa del Rey top scorers
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