Full name David Diplacido Name David Diplacido Place of birth Newmarket, Canada Role Soccer player | Years Team Height 1.73 m 1998-2005 Toronto Lynx | |
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Date of birth (1977-05-18) May 18, 1977 (age 38) 2002 →Mississauga Olympians (loan) | ||
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David Diplacido (born May 18, 1977, in Newmarket, Ontario) is a Canadian former soccer player who played the majority of his career with the Toronto Lynx where he is currently the club's all-time leader in club appearances. He had a short stint with the Montreal Impact winning a Regular Season Championship and a Voyageurs Cup title with the club. In the later half of his career he played in the Canadian Soccer League.
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Playing career
In the summer of 1998 he signed with the Toronto Lynx making his debut on May 2, 1998 against Long Island Rough Riders, and was awarded the Lynx Public Relations Award. In 1999, Peter Pinizzotto gave him a starting role in the midfield to put more creativity in the centre of the field. Later on he developed into a skilled attacking midfielder with great passing vision which helped the Lynx make the playoffs in 2000 eliminating teams like Long Island Rough Riders, and Richmond Kickers, but the Lynx playoff run came to an end in the Eastern Conference Final against the Rochester Raging Rhinos in a 2-1 loss on aggregate. In 2001, he scored two goals and recorded two assists but the Lynx failed to reach the playoff stage, as they had done the previous season, while at the end of the season he was awarded the Lynx Fan Favourite Award.
On June 9, 2002 he played his 100th game with the club. He formed a strong partnership with rookie Nikola Budalić in the midfield both their goals almost allowed the Lynx to clinch a playoff berth which they barely missed out on. Once the 2002 A-league season came to a conclusion, Diplacido was loaned to the Mississauga Olympians of the Canadian Professional Soccer League. He made his debut on September 11, 2002 in an Open Canada Cup match against the Toronto Croatia. He recorded his first goal for Mississauga in 4-3 victory over the Vaughan Sun Devils on October 4, 2002. He helped the Olympians secure a playoff berth by finishing second in the Western Conference, but unfortunately where defeated by the North York Astros in a wild card match.
In 2003, and 2004 the Lynx struggled and failed to make the playoffs again. It was announced on April 19, 2005 the re-signing of Diplacido for the 2005 season. Throughout the season the Lynx performed poorly and the team was stuck at the bottom of the table for the majority of the year, and eventually finished with a record of 3 wins, 17 losses, and 8 ties the worst performance in league and club history and a 12th-place finish. On August 1, 2005 he was transferred to the Montreal Impact along with Charles Gbeke in order to assist the Impacts' offence, which lost key players to European teams. He played a key role in the midfield helping the Impact to a 15-game undefeated streak setting a new league record, while helping the team clinch the Regular Season title and claiming the Voyageurs Cup, but the Impact failed to defend their 2004 League title.
In the summer of 2006 with the return of head coach Duncan Wilde, Diplacido returned to Toronto with his signing announced in a press conference on April 18, 2006. On August 18, 2006 he was honored as the first player to reach 200 games for the Toronto Lynx. In the 2006 season he assisted the Lynx to a 10-game undefeated streak at home, and reached the Open Canada Cup finals match, but were defeated by Ottawa St. Anthony Italia in a 2-0 loss. Once the season came to a conclusion the Lynx franchise dropped two divisions down to the PDL, which resulted in Diplacido being released from his contract along with all the other professional senior players. He left the Lynx as their all-time leader in games played for the club with 206 matches since he joined in 1998. On June 27, 2007 he joined the North York Astros of the Canadian Soccer League. He made his debut on June 7 in exhibition game against the Mexico U-20. He assisted the Astros by clinching a playoff berth by finishing third in the National Division, but were eliminated by eventual champions the Toronto Croatia.
In 2008, Diplacido signed with the Italia Shooters, and scored a goal in his first match with the club against Portugal FC on September 5, 2008. Diplacido helped the Shooters win their second International Division title. In the playoff run he contributed by a victory over the Brampton Lions in the quarterfinals. But unfortunately Italia were defeated by eventual champions Serbian White Eagles in the semi-final match.