Diego Rubio
Rubio with Sandnes Ulf in 2014
Personal information
Full name Diego Iván Rubio Köstner
Date of birth (1993-05-15) 15 May 1993 (age 30)
Place of birth Santiago, Chile
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
2005–2007 Universidad Católica
2007–2010 Colo-Colo
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2011 Colo-Colo 8 (3)
2011–2015 Sporting CP 11 (1)
2012–2015 Sporting CP B 52 (22)
2013 → Pandurii Târgu Jiu (loan) 4 (0)
2014 → Sandnes Ulf (loan) 26 (8)
2015–2016 Valladolid 13 (0)
2016 → Sporting Kansas City (loan) 13 (1)
2016 → Swope Park Rangers (loan) 1 (1)
2016–2018 Sporting Kansas City 38 (14)
2017–2018 → Swope Park Rangers 6 (2)
2019–2023 Colorado Rapids 114 (38)
2022 Colorado Rapids 2 1 (1)
International career‡
2013 Chile U20 8 (1)
2011– Chile 9 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21 October 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15 October 2019

Diego Iván Rubio Köstner (born 15 May 1993) is a Chilean footballer who plays as a striker.

Club career

Early career

Rubio began his football career with Universidad Católica. However, when he was 14, he took the decision to move to his favorite team Colo-Colo. After one year in the bench with Colo-Colo, in the next season Diego was consecrated in the youth team. After many seasons in the youth ranks, he was promoted to the first professional team in January 2011.

Colo-Colo

Rubio made his professional debut for Colo-Colo in a pre-season friendly against Deportes La Serena as a starter. In other pre-season game, Diego scored his first unofficial goals for the club, in a 3–1 win against Unión Española, in where he scored two goals for his team, being named the man of the match.

His Chilean Primera División came on 14 February 2011 against Unión San Felipe, as an 84th-minute substitution in a 2–0 away defeat. In a Copa Libertadores game played against Santos in Brazil, he scored his first professional goal, but the match finished in a 3–2 loss. On 19 April, Rubio scored his first two goals in the Primera División against La Serena, at 30th and 62nd minute, being named the man of match, in a 4–1 home win. He finally was consecrated in the club in an international game for the Libertadores against Táchira, Rubio gave the 2–1 victory to the club, scoring the two goals of Colo-Colo, after an early goal of Edgar Pérez Greco at 4th minute. After his club's performances, was rumored that Udinese are interested in Rubio.

He played his first derby game against his former youth club Universidad Católica, participating in the equalizer goal of Colo-Colo giving an assistance to Ezequiel Miralles at 81st minute, putting the 1–1 draw. The coach Américo Gallego nominated to Rubio for play the major derby of the Chilean football against Universidad de Chile, however, he only playing 30 minutes in a 2–1 loss.

Sporting CP

On 5 July 2011, Rubio joined Portuguese club Sporting Clube de Portugal for €1.5 million, signing a five-year contract with a €30 million minimum fee release clause.[2]

Loan to Pandurii

On 2 September 2013, Romanian Liga I club Pandurii Târgu Jiu confirmed Rubio was signed on a loan from Sporting, with an option to buy.[3] He debuted in Liga I in the match against Dinamo Bucharest, won by Pandurii 2–1.

Loan to Sandnes Ulf

On 3 February 2014, Rubio joined Tippeligaen side Sandnes Ulf on a season-long loan.[4]

Valladolid

On 31 August 2015, aged 22, signed a four-year contract with Spanish club Real Valladolid.[5]

Sporting Kansas City

On 8 March 2016, Rubio signed a season-long loan with Major League Soccer side Sporting Kansas City as a Designated Player.[6]

He signed with the club on a permanent deal on 1 September 2016.[7]

Colorado Rapids

Ahead of the 2019 season, Rubio was traded to Colorado Rapids in exchange for Kelyn Rowe, $200,000 of General Allocation Money and $100,000 of Target Allocation Money.[8] On 20 Feb. 2019, Rubio signed a three-year contract extension through the 2022 season.[9] Rubio enjoyed a career year with Colorado in 2019. He was the club's second leading scorer with 11 goals in 25 starts among 26 appearances[10]—all MLS career highs.[11]

In 2020, Rubio appeared in 17 matches, starting 13, in the regular season and playoffs. Rubio scored three goals, including game-winning goals on 12 Sept. against Real Salt Lake and 8 Nov. at Houston Dynamo. He also added four assists, including game-winning assists on Opening Day against D.C. United and on 4 Nov. to clinch a playoff berth at Portland Timbers. Rubio was named to the MLS Team of the Week in Weeks 11[12] and 24.[13] Rubio left Colorado following their 2023 season.[14]

International career

On 31 May 2011, Rubio was called up by Chile national team manager Claudio Borghi to take part in the 28-man pre-list preparatory process for the upcoming 2011 Copa América.[15] He officially debuted with Chile national team on 23 June 2011, in a match against Paraguay, the last match of Chile before the Copa América.

Rubio returned to the national team and appeared in a 0-0 friendly draw against South Korea on 11 Sept. 2018.[16] Rubio was a substitute in a 1-1 friendly draw against the United States on 26 March 2019.[17] Rubio picked up an assist on Alfonso Parat's goal in a 2-1 friendly loss to Honduras on 10 Sept. 2019, Rubio's first 90-minute performance on the senior international stage.[18] On 6 Nov. 2020, Rubio was called up for Chile's 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers against Peru and Venezuela,[19] but was later released from the squad out of precautions over COVID-19.[20]

Personal life

Diego is the grandson of Ildefonso Rubio,[21] a historical goalkeeper of Rangers de Talca, and the son of Hugo Rubio.[22] Currently working at the Passball company as a football agent, Hugo was a successful football player, having spent most of his extensive career in his country with a short spell in European football, specifically in Italy and Switzerland. Hugo also was a member of the Chile squad at the Copa América of 1987 and 1991. Diego has two footballer brothers, Eduardo, who was a Chile international at senior level, and Matías, who was a Chile international at under-20 level. Diego Rubio is also godchild of the Chilean football legend Iván Zamorano.[23]

On 15 May 2011, was reported that Rubio was on a list of most popular Chilean players on Twitter with 1,247 fans, in the 12th place of 14 players. The list was led by Jorge Valdivia, in the 1st place with more of 50,000 fans.[24]

On 24 May 2013, Diego got married with Rocío Navarro in Seville and on 6 June 2014 his first son Thiago was born.

Rubio earned his U.S. green card in September 2017.[25] This status also qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

Career statistics

Club

As of 21 October 2023[26][27][28][29]
Club Season League National Cup[a] League Cup[b] Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Colo-Colo 2011 Primera División 7 2 0 0 – 2[c] 3 1[d] 1 10 6
Sporting CP 2011–12 Primeira Liga 9 1 1 0 1 0 6[e] 0 – 17 1
2012–13 Primeira Liga 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 2 0
2013–14 Primeira Liga 0 0 0 0 0 0 – – 0 0
2014–15 Primeira Liga 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 – 1 0
2015–16 Primeira Liga 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 11 1 1 0 2 0 6 0 0 0 20 1
Sporting CP B 2012–13 Segunda Liga 26 8 – – – – 26 8
2014–15 Segunda Liga 21 14 – – – – 21 14
2015–16 LigaPro 5 0 – – – – 5 0
Total 52 22 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 52 22
Pandurii Târgu Jiu (loan) 2013–14 Liga I 4 0 1 0 – 0 0 – 5 0
Sandnes Ulf (loan) 2014 Tippeligaen 26 8 1 0 – – – 27 8
Valladolid 2015–16 Segunda División 13 0 1 0 – – – 14 0
Sporting Kansas City (loan) 2016 Major League Soccer 13 1 2 1 – 2[f] 0 0 0 17 2
Swope Park Rangers (loan) 2016 United Soccer League 1 1 – – – 0 0 1 1
Sporting Kansas City 2016 Major League Soccer 2 0 0 0 – 1[f] 1 0 0 3 1
2017 16 6 3 1 – – 1[g] 0 20 7
2018 20 8 2 0 – – 3[g] 2 25 10
Total 38 14 5 1 0 0 1 1 4 2 48 18
Swope Park Rangers 2016 United Soccer League 1 0 – – – 0 0 1 0
2017 2 1 – – – 0 0 2 1
2018 3 1 – – – 0 0 3 1
Total 6 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 2
Colorado Rapids 2019 Major League Soccer 26 11 1 1 – – 0 0 27 12
2020 16 3 – – – 1[g] 0 17 3
2021 26 5 0 0 0 0 – 0 0 26 5
2022 30 16 1 0 – 2 0 0 0 33 16
2023 16 3 0 0 – 1 1 0 0 17 4
Total 114 38 2 1 0 0 3 1 1 0 120 40
Career total 285 89 13 3 2 0 14 5 6 3 320 100
  1. ^ Includes the Taça de Portugal, Cupa României, Norwegian Football Cup, Copa del Rey, and U.S. Open Cup
  2. ^ All appearances in the Taça da Liga
  3. ^ Appearances in the Copa Libertadores
  4. ^ Appearance in the Apertura play-offs
  5. ^ Appearances in the UEFA Europa League
  6. ^ a b Appearances in the CONCACAF Champions League
  7. ^ a b c Appearances in the MLS Cup Playoffs

International

As of 10 September 2019[30]
Chile
Year Apps Goals
2011 3 0
2012 0 0
2013 0 0
2014 0 0
2015 0 0
2016 0 0
2017 0 0
2018 1 0
2019 3 0
Total 7 0

Honors

Club

Sporting Kansas City

References

  1. ^ "Diego Rubio". Colorado Rapids. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  2. ^ "Aguiar and Rubio take Sporting spree to ten". UEFA. 5 July 2011. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  3. ^ "TRANSFER / Marin Condescu: "Diego Rubio va fi împrumutat dar avem opţiune de a-l cumpăra!"" (in Romanian). pandurii-tg-jiu.ro. 2 September 2013.
  4. ^ "Diego Rubio leies ut til Sandnes Ulf". sandnesulf.no (in Norwegian). Sandnes Ulf. 3 February 2014. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  5. ^ "El Real Valladolid ficha a Diego Rubio" [Real Valladolid signs Diego Rubio] (in Spanish). Real Valladolid. 31 August 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  6. ^ "Sporting KC acquires 22-year-old striker Diego Rubio on loan". sportingkc.com. Sporting Kansas City. 8 March 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  7. ^ "Sporting KC completes permanent transfer of forward Diego Rubio from Spanish side Real Valladolid". sportingkc.com. Sporting Kansas City. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  8. ^ "Colorado Rapids acquire striker Diego Rubio from Sporting Kansas City". coloradorapids.com. Colorado Rapids. 18 December 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  9. ^ "Acosta, Rosenberry and Rubio pen long-term deals with the Colorado Rapids". Archived from the original on 6 March 2019.
  10. ^ "Colorado Rapids 2019 Team Stats".
  11. ^ "Diego Rubio". Archived from the original on 19 March 2016.
  12. ^ "Team of the Week presented by Audi: Sounders lead Week 11 honors after 7-goal romp". Archived from the original on 17 September 2020.
  13. ^ "Team of the Week presented by Audi: Philadelphia Union lead after clinching Supporters' Shield". Archived from the original on 9 November 2020.
  14. ^ https://www.coloradorapids.com/news/colorado-rapids-part-ways-with-forward-diego-rubio
  15. ^ Daniel Beovic. "Diego Rubio fue nominado a la Selección Chilena". redgol.cl. Archived from the original on 15 April 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
  16. ^ "Corea del Sur 0-0 Chile: goles, resultado, crónica e imágenes". Archived from the original on 11 September 2018.
  17. ^ "Estados Unidos 1-1 Chile: la Roja experimenta sin éxito". Archived from the original on 27 March 2019.
  18. ^ "Honduras 2-1 Chile".
  19. ^ "Seleccion Chilena Twitter".
  20. ^ "Primera baja en Chile: Rubio fue liberado como precaución tras caso de covid en su club".[permanent dead link]
  21. ^ Ildefonso Rubio at CeroaCero
  22. ^ González, Christian; Navarrete, Luis (11 March 2013). "Padres e hijos futbolistas, la mejor herencia" (in Spanish). La Tercera. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  23. ^ "Blog del diario As destaca a Diego Rubio: "Puede dar mucho que hablar"". La Tercera.com. La Tercera. 27 April 2011. Archived from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
  24. ^ "Diego Rubio se une a los futbolistas chilenos con más seguidores en twitter". La Tercera. 15 April 2011. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  25. ^ Sam Kovzan (12 September 2017). "Forward Diego Rubio obtains green card, no longer occupies international spot on Sporting KC roster". SportingKC.com. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  26. ^ Diego Rubio at Soccerway. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  27. ^ Diego Rubio at BDFutbol
  28. ^ Diego Rubio at Major League Soccer
  29. ^ "Diego Rubio at WorldFootball.net". WorldFootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL Medien GmbH & Co. KG. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  30. ^ Diego Rubio at National-Football-Teams.com
  31. ^ Boehm, Charles (20 September 2017). "Sporting KC 2, New York Red Bulls 1 as 2017 US Open Cup Final Recap". Major League Soccer. Retrieved 20 September 2017.

External links

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