Mariano Díaz

About

Mariano Díaz Mejía (Spanish pronunciation: [maˈɾjano ˈði.aθ meˈxi.a]; born 1 August 1993), better known as Mariano, is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club Alavés. Born in Spain, he plays for the Dominican Republic national team.
Shortly after making his debut for Badalona in 2011, Mariano joined Real Madrid, where he played in the C-team and then the reserves, where he was top scorer in the 2015–16 Segunda División B. He then began playing with the first team, and was part of their squad that won La Liga, the UEFA Champions League and the FIFA Club World Cup in 2016–17. He was subsequently signed by Ligue 1 club Lyon.

Born in Premià de Mar, Barcelona, Catalonia, Mariano began his youth career with local side RCD Espanyol, and appeared for lowly CE Premià and Fundació Sánchez Llibre. In 2009, he joined CF Badalona, and made his senior debut on 21 August 2011, replacing Iñaki Goikoetxea for the final 21 minutes of a 1–0 loss at CD Teruel in the Segunda División B season; he made two more appearances off the bench. On the 31st, he made his first start, playing the entirety of a 3–1 loss at RB Linense in that season’s Copa…