Diego Eli

Diego Eli
	Diego with Lee Man in 2023
Personal information
Full name	Diego Eli Moreira
Date of birth	4 September 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth	Santo Antônio da Platina, Brazil
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team	Kowloon City
Number	5
Youth career
1999–2002	AABB Santo Antônio da Platina
2002–2005	UPE Clube de Campo
Senior career*
Years	Team
2006	Associação Ibaiti
2006	Real Brasil
2007	SER Caxias do Sul
2008	Pelotas
2009	Londrina
2010–2011	Avenida
2011	→ Goiatuba (loan)
2011	Esportivo
2012	Juventus-RS
2012–2013	Tuen Mun
2013–2021	Eastern
2021–2024	Lee Man
2024–	Kowloon City
International career‡
2021–2022	Hong Kong
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18 July 2024; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11 June 2022

Diego Eli Moreira (Chinese: 迪高; born 4 September 1988) is a professional footballer who currently plays as a defensive midfielder for Hong Kong Premier League club Kowloon City. Born in Brazil, he plays for the Hong Kong national team.

Club career

After playing for several clubs in Brazil, Diego signed for Tuen Mun of Hong Kong First Division in 2012.^[1] In the following season, he signed with fellow Hong Kong First Division club Eastern on a free transfer.^[2]

On 1 June 2021, after staying at Eastern for 8 years, Diego signed for Lee Man.^[3]

On 18 July 2024, Diego joined Kowloon City.^[4]

On 1 September 2024, Diego scored against Tai Po on his debut for Kowloon City.

International career

On 22 December 2019, after staying in Hong Kong for seven years, Diego confirmed that he had received his HKSAR passport, making him eligible to represent Hong Kong internationally.^[5]

On 17 May 2021, Diego received his first call-up alongside 2 teammates from Eastern to the Hong Kong national football team to play against Iran, Iraq and Bahrain for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.^[6] On 3 June 2021, Diego made his international debut for Hong Kong against Iran.

Career statistics

Club

As of 22 May 2021

Club	Season	League		Senior Shield		League Cup		FA Cup		AFC Cup		Total
Club	Season	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Tuen Mun	2012–13	17	0	2	0	-		2	1	-		18	1
Eastern	2013–14	18	1	2	0	-		4	0	-		24	1
	2014–15	11	0	2	0	1	0	2	1	-		16	4
	2015–16	13	5	3	0	3	0	1	0	-		20	5
	2016–17	15	3	3	1	-		1	1	5	5	24	10
	2017–18	13	0	3	0	-		1	0	1	1	19	1
	2018–19	15	1	1	0	-		1	0	-		17	1
	2019–20	9	3	3	0	-		4	1	-		16	4
	2020–21	14	1	-		-		-		-		13	1
	Total	125	14	19	1	4	0	16	4	6	6	168	28

International

As of matches played 11 June 2022

National team	Year	Apps
Hong Kong	2021	3
Hong Kong	2022	1
Total		4

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Result	Competition
1	3 June 2021	Al Muharraq Stadium, Arad, Bahrain	Iran	1–3	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC second round
2	11 June 2021	Al Muharraq Stadium, Arad, Bahrain	Iraq	0–1	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC second round
3	15 June 2021	Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa, Bahrain	Bahrain	0–4	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC second round
4	11 June 2022	Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata, India	Cambodia	3–0	2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification – third round