Diego Lainez

Diego Lainez
Personal information
Full name Diego Lainez Leyva[1]
Date of birth (2000-06-09) 9 June 2000[1]
Place of birth Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico
Height 1.67 m (5 ft 5 1⁄2 in)[2]
Playing position Winger
Club information
Current team
 América
Number 20
Youth career
2012–2017 América
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017– América 31 (2)
National team‡
2017 Mexico U17 4 (2)
2018– Mexico U21 8 (1)
2018– Mexico 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:58, 16 September 2018 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11:17, 12 September 2018 (UTC)

Diego Lainez Leyva (born 9 June 2000) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a winger for Liga MX club América.[3]

Club career

América

Lainez was recruited by scout Ángel González along with his brother Mauro. Mauro decided to join Pachuca's academy, while Diego opted to join Club América.[4]

On 1 March 2017, Lainez made his competitive debut with América in the Copa MX group stage match against Santos Laguna.[5] Three days later, he made his league debut against León, becoming one of the club's youngest players to debut for the first team at 16 years old.[6] On 19 March, after a lineup error that ruled out Gerson Torres from being eligible to play,[7] Lainez was assigned to start against UNAM.[8]

On 4 August 2018, Lainez scored his first two goals for América in a 3–1 win over Pachuca at Estadio Hidalgo; he became the youngest player to score a double with the club, and the fifth youngest to score a goal in the club’s history.[9] On 18 September, Lainez suffered a sprained ankle on his left foot during training following a tackle from Bruno Valdez,[10] forcing him to miss out on three weeks of action, including the Súper Clásico against arch-rivals Guadalajara.[11]

International career

Mexico U-17

Lainez was ruled out of the 2017 CONCACAF U-17 Championship due to his activity with Club América's first team.

On 14 September 2017, Lainez was included in final roster that participated at the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.[12] In Mexico’s second group match against England, Lainez scored twice in the team’s 3–2 loss.[13]

Mexico U-21

Lainez was included in the final roster that participated at the 2018 Toulon Tournament. He scored the opening goal against Qatar in Mexico’s 4–1 win. He would go on to win the Best Player Award,[14] as well as make the Best XI of the competition as Mexico finished runner-up.[15]

Lainez was included in the final roster that participated in the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games.[16] He appeared in all three group stage matches as Mexico finished last in their group with one point.

Mexico national football team

On 29 August 2018, Lainez received his first call-up to the senior national team for the friendly matches against Uruguay and the United States.[17] He earned his first cap in Mexico's 4–1 defeat to Uruguay on 7 September.[18]

Career statistics

Club

As of 16 September 2018[19]
Club Season League Cup Continental Others Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
América 2016–17 Liga MX 9010——100
2017–18 15060101[lower-alpha 1]0230
2018–19 7230——102
Total 3121001010432
Career total 3121001010432
  1. ↑ Includes 1 match from the 2017 Supercopa MX

International

As of 12 September 2018[20]
Mexico
YearAppsGoals
201820
Total20

Style of play

"I look to take players on a lot, play a lot of one-twos, but I also like to shoot from distance."

—Lainez on his own playing style, March 2017.[21]

Described as a “diminutive, left-footed forward with a sharp burst of pace”, Lainez was featured in The Guardian's list of the 60 best young talents in world football,[22] as well as Goal.com's 2017 NxGn list of the world's best teenage players.[23]

He has also been described as "creative and methodical in terms of orchestrating attacks. Despite being a teenager, Lainez has a very mature reading of the game which often fuels his sharp decision-making on the field." Lainez appears equally adept at passing and crossing as well as not shirking away from his defensive duties.[24] Thomas Harrison of Outsideoftheboot.com described him as "a winger who can also operate as a 'number ten', [he] is renowned for his outstanding balance, trickery and change of pace when running with the ball, and the stats back up this belief. Diego ended the 2017–18 with a dribble success rate of above 65%, one of the highest figures for an attacking player in Liga MX."[25]

Honours

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 "MEXIQUE". Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  2. ↑ "Diego Lainez". ligamx.net (in Spanish).
  3. ↑ "Diego Lainez". sub17.ligamx.net (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-03-05.
  4. ↑ "Tesoros de la Coca". Adrenalina (in Spanish). Excelsior. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  5. ↑ "De último minuto, Santos venció a América y calificó en Copa". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  6. ↑ "Diego Lainez le cambió la cara a un gris América que igualó 1-1 con León" (in Spanish). Univision. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  7. ↑ "¡Increíble! El América no sabía que Gerson Torres no podía jugar" (in Spanish). Marca.
  8. ↑ "Lainez repite como titular, ahora no por necesidad" (in Spanish). ESPN Deportes.
  9. ↑ "Diego Lainez el américanista más joven en anotar doblete" (in Spanish). Club América. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  10. ↑ Orvañanos, Alejandro (18 September 2018). "Diego Lainez sufrió un esguince en el entrenamiento del América". Marca. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  11. ↑ "¿Por qué Diego Lainez no juega el Clásico entre América y Chivas?". Goal. 30 September 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  12. ↑ "Diego Lainez encabeza convocatoria del Tri para el Mundial Sub 17". www.univision.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-11-12.
  13. ↑ "FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 - Matches - England-Mexico". FIFA. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  14. ↑ "Festival International Espoirs 2018 : les récompenses" (in French). Toulon Tournament. 12 June 2018.
  15. ↑ "L'équipe type du Festival International Espoirs 2018" (in French). Toulon Tournament. 11 June 2018.
  16. ↑ "Diego Lainez to lead team for the Central American and Caribbean Games". FMF State of Mind. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  17. ↑ "Convocatoria de la Selección Nacional de México". miseleccion.mx (in Spanish). Mexican Football Federation. 29 August 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  18. ↑ "Lainez y Alvarado, el futuro Tricolor" [Lainez and Alvarado, the Tricolor future]. ESTO (in Spanish). 3 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  19. ↑ "Mexico - D. Lainez - career statistics - Soccerway".
  20. ↑ "Diego Lainez". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  21. ↑ "Diego Lainez: I play like Messi". Marca. 21 March 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  22. ↑ "Next Generation 2017: 60 of the best young talents in world football". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  23. ↑ "Meet Diego Lainez: The 16-year-old sensation who dreams of becoming the 'Mexican Messi'". Goal.com. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  24. ↑ Sengupta, Meghna. "Who's This Mexican Attacker Liverpool Are Trying To Sign? Everything You Need To Know". Soccersouls.com. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  25. ↑ Harrison, Thomas (16 August 2018). "Talent Radar: Liga MX's 10 Young Players to Watch in 2018-19". Outsideoftheboot.com. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
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