Diego Tristán

Diego Tristán

Tristán training for West Ham in 2009
Personal information
Full name	Diego Tristán Herrera
Date of birth	(1976-01-05) 5 January 1976
Place of birth	La Algaba, Spain
Height
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
	Betis
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1995–1998	Betis B	94	(33)
1998–1999	Mallorca B	39	(15)
1999–2000	Mallorca	35	(18)
2000–2006	Deportivo La Coruña	177	(87)
2006–2007	Mallorca	13	(0)
2007–2008	Livorno	21	(1)
2008–2009	West Ham	14	(3)
2009–2010	Cádiz	29	(8)
Total		422	(165)
International career
2001–2003	Spain	15	(4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Tristán and the second or maternal family name is Herrera.

Diego Tristán Herrera (born 5 January 1976) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as a striker.

At his peak, he was considered amongst the best players in his position in Europe, displaying a vast array of skills: dribble, shot accuracy, aerial ability and off-the-ball movements. He is best known for his Deportivo de La Coruña spell, where he spent six years, often overshadowed by physical and personal problems.

Over the course of eight La Liga seasons, Tristán amassed totals of 227 games and 95 goals. He appeared with the Spanish national team at the 2002 World Cup.

Club career

Early years

Born in La Algaba, Province of Seville, Tristán came through the youth ranks of local Real Betis, going on to finish his sporting formation with the B-side of RCD Mallorca.

After one season in Segunda División he made his La Liga debut in 1999–2000, against CD Numancia on 12 September 1999 (scoring in the process), and finished his first top flight campaign with 18 goals.

Deportivo

After nearly moving to league powerhouse Real Madrid during the 2000 summer, a deal barred by Lorenzo Sanz's exit from the club's presidency, Tristán joined Galician club Deportivo de La Coruña, forming a dreaded offensive partnership (on occasions, as Depor mainly operated in a 4–5–1 formation) with Dutchman Roy Makaay.

As Makaay was first-choice during 2000–01 Tristán threatened to quit Deportivo, when he found himself in and out of the side, but eventually became an undisputed starter in the following season and responded, netting 21 league goals for the Javier Irureta-led side, a competition best. He added six in the campaign's UEFA Champions League and five in the Copa del Rey; this included a hat-trick in a 5–0 home win against former side Mallorca, on 7 April 2002.

Afterwards, Tristán injured his ankle on international duty, losing again the starting berth to Makaay who even won the European Golden Boot for his performances. The former could not adapt to his secondary role, but still scored 19 goals overall during that season.

Even when Makaay left Deportivo in June 2003 for FC Bayern Munich, Tristán never regained his form and confidence: in the 2003–04 campaign he played just ten full matches and was taken off in 20. His 18 further appearances as substitute made him miss only eight out of 56 matches, but he only produced 13 goals (eight in the league, two in the domestic cup and three in the Champions League, including one in a 3–8 away defeat to AS Monaco FC on 5 November 2003).

Journeyman

In total Tristán scored 87 goals in the shirt of Deportivo in four seasons, leaving in July 2006 – he was released on 1 September 2006, along with teammate Lionel Scaloni. After being linked with several clubs in Spain and overseas, including Bolton Wanderers, he agreed to rejoin Mallorca after a six-year hiatus, but was released on 31 January 2007 due to a lack of fitness, form and goals.

Tristán signed a one-year contract with Serie A side A.S. Livorno Calcio in July 2007, as the Italians searched for a replacement for Ukraine-bound Cristiano Lucarelli, whom signed with FC Shakhtar Donetsk, but he ultimately failed to impress with the Tuscany team, scoring only once during the campaign and eventually dropping down to Serie B.

On 29 September 2008 it was confirmed Tristán was undergoing a trial at West Ham United of the Premier League. On 14 October he signed a contract with the team, making his debut on 8 December as a late substitute in the 0–2 home defeat against Tottenham Hotspur. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 home victory over Stoke City on 28 December, also coming from the bench.

Cádiz

On 24 July 2009, Tristán joined second division club Cádiz CF after having been released by West Ham at the end of the season, thus returning to his native Andalusia after 14 years. He regained some of his scoring form in his first and only season, but his team was relegated after finishing in 19th position; in the last league match, a 4–2 home win against Numancia on 19 June 2010 – with the striker grabbing a brace – proved insufficient.

International career

On 2 June 2001 Tristán, courtesy of his stellar Deportivo performances, earned a debut for Spain, scoring in a 4–1 home win against Bosnia and Herzegovina in a 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier in Oviedo. In the finals in South Korea and Japan he appeared sparingly for the quarterfinalists after picking up an injury, and did not manage to find the net.

Tristán scored on his last cap, a 3–0 friendly win in Portugal on 6 September 2003.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	2 June 2001	Carlos Tartiere, Oviedo, Spain	Bosnia and Herzegovina	4–1	4–1	2002 World Cup qualification
2.	1 September 2001	Mestalla, Valencia, Spain	Austria	1–0	4–0	2002 World Cup qualification
3.	2 April 2003	Antonio Amilivia, León, Spain	Armenia	1–0	3–0	Euro 2004 qualifying
4.	6 September 2003	D. Afonso Henriques, Guimarães, Portugal	Portugal	0–3	0–3	Friendly

Statistics

Club

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Spain			League		Copa del Rey		Copa de la Liga		Europe		Total
1995/96	Betis B	Segunda División B	38	11	0	0	-				38	11
1996/97			32	11			-				32	11
1997/98			24	11			-				24	11
1998/99	Mallorca B	Segunda División	39	15	0	0	-				39	15
1999/00	Mallorca	La Liga	35	18	0	0	-		11	5	46	23
2000/01	Deportivo	La Liga	29	19	2	2	-		11	2	42	23
2001/02			34	21	6	5	-		12	6	51	32
2002/03			23	9	8	6	-		10	4	41	19
2003/04			34	8	3	2	-		11	4	47	14
2004/05			23	9	2	2	-		1	0	26	11
2005/06			36	11	3	0	-		5	1	45	12
2006/07	Mallorca	La Liga	13	0	3	0	-		-		15	0
Italy			League		Coppa Italia		League Cup		Europe		Total
2007/08	Livorno	Serie A	21	1							21	1
England			League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
2008/09	West Ham	Premier League	14	3	3	0	0	0	-	-	17	3
Spain			League		Copa del Rey		Copa de la Liga		Europe		Total
2009/10	Cádiz	Segunda División	29	8	1	0	-	-	-	-	30	8
Country	Spain		389	151	28	17	-	-	61	22	475	190
	Italy		21	1							21	1
	England		14	3							17	3
Total			424	155							513	193

International

Spain
Year	Apps	Goals
2001	5	2
2002	6	0
2003	4	2
Total	15	4

Honours

Club

Deportivo

• Copa del Rey: 2001–02
• Supercopa de España: 2000, 2002

Individual

• Pichichi Trophy: 2001–02

External links

• Diego Tristán profile at BDFutbol
• National team data
• Diego Tristán career statistics at Soccerbase
• Stats and bio at Cadistas1910 (Spanish)
• Diego Tristán at National-Football-Teams.com
• Diego Tristán – FIFA competition record