Full name Mariano Diaz Mejia 2006–2008 Premia de Mar Career start 2011 2002–2006 Espanyol Height 1.81 m | Playing position Role Footballer Place of birth Barcelona, Spain Name Mariano Mejia | |
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Date of birth (1993-08-01) 1 August 1993 (age 22) Current teams Dominican Republic national football team (Forward), Real Madrid C (Forward), Real Madrid Castilla | ||
Mariano Díaz Mejía - Goals & Skills - 2017/18
Mariano Díaz Mejía (born 1 August 1993), simply known as Mariano, is a Spanish footballer who plays for Real Madrid as a striker.
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Early career
Born in Premià de Mar, Barcelona, Catalonia, Mariano started his youth career with local side RCD Espanyol, and appeared for lowly CE Premià and Fundaciò 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 for the season's Copa del Rey, scoring his team's consolation.
Youth
Shortly after, Mariano signed with Real Madrid, returning to youth football. In August 2012 he was promoted to the Madrilenian side's C-team also in the third level. He became a regular in his second season there, with 15 goals in 26 games including a hat-trick on 22 December 2013 in a 5–2 home win over Sestao River Club. The following 18 January, Mariano made his professional debut at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, appearing with the reserves in a 1–2 loss against Sporting de Gijón, for the Segunda División championship; he came on for the final five minutes in place of Raúl de Tomás.
2014–16: Castilla
In 2014–15, with Castilla now in the third tier, Mariano was indefinitely promoted to the team; he made ten appearances, six from the bench, and scored five times. On 29 March, he entered late in De Tomás' place again and netted twice to cap a 5–1 home win over UD Las Palmas B, while a week later he was given a start at lowly UB Conquense and struck both goals in a seven-minute span.
On 24 October 2015, Mariano scored all of his team's goals in a 3–1 home win over UD Socuéllamos, and repeated this on 8 November in a 3–2 win against CF Fuenlabrada. The following 17 April, he scored his third treble of the season, netting all of the goals – two penalties – in a home win over SD Gernika Club which put Castilla top. He scored his 25th goal of the season in a 6–1 win over La Roda CF on the last day of the season, making him the season's top scorer and winning the group at the expense of Barakaldo CF.
2016–present: Entrance in the first squad
He was definitely promoted to the main squad by manager Zinedine Zidane on 20 August 2016, after Karim Benzema's back injury, and a week later, he made his senior debut during an 2–1 win over Celta de Vigo, replacing Álvaro Morata in the 77th minute. On 26 October, again from the bench, he scored his first goal for the Merengues to conclude a 7–1 win at Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa in the Copa del Rey; in the second leg he added a hat-trick for a 13–2 aggregate win, including a 23rd-second goal that was his team's fastest goal in the competition.
Mariano scored his first top-flight goal on 10 December, equalising in a 3–2 comeback victory at home to Deportivo de La Coruña. Later that month, he was part of the squad that won the 2016 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan, but did not take part in either of Real Madrid's matches.
Club statistics
As of 4 March 2017International career
Mariano is eligible for Dominican Republic through his mother, a native of San Juan de la Maguana. He made his international debut on 24 March 2013, in a friendly against neighbours Haiti, and scored the last goal of a 3–1 victory. He later retired from the national team to focus his career at Real Madrid and also avoid being cap-tied with the Dominican Republic, in view of a possible call from the Spanish national team.