The Paraguayan extreme passed unnoticed for Peruvian football when I was 18 yearsand now he made the leap from second in Mexico Lazio Italian Serie A
The Paraguayan soccer team qualified for the last hexagon of the South American Sub-20 2023 and recently made headlines thanks to the surprise transfer of one of their regulars. Diego Gonzalesa footballer affiliated with Celaya in Mexico’s second division, made the big leap to Lazio Roma in Serie A in Italy. Outside his country, it caught the attention of the few Peruvian fans who remembered his name in the league 1 to have heard.
Diego Luis González has not played professionally in his home country and made a very unnoticed move in Peruvian football in 2021 when he was loaned to San Martín by Panama’s Potros del Este. Who is this Paraguayan footballer and why has he hardly played when he was in league 1?
Diego González arrived in San Martín on loan for Phase 2 of La Liga 2021. Photo: Potros del Este
Who is Diego González, the Paraguayan U20 soccer player?
Diego Luis González Alcaraz (Alto Paraná, January 7, 2003) was formed in the smaller divisions of Libertad. He switched to Panamanian football just before his 17th birthday in 2020 and made his professional debut here in a Potros del Este jersey on March 17, 2021, in the 0-0 draw against Tauro FC. From then on he played and started every game.
In the middle of the year, Diego González quietly came to San Martín for phase 2 of the 1st division 2021. His stay and subsequent departure happened in the same way, only with his arrival at Celaya in the second division of Mexico that he regularly added minutes again. It wasn’t until the 2022 Apertura that he solidified as a starter, which helped him get called up by his team for the 2023 South American Sub-20.
González has played and started every game in this tournament so far, mostly on the left wing. As if adding more to the anecdote, his only goal in the competition against Peru came in Guaraní’s 1-0 win on day three, a case in which the Blanquirroja were eliminated early.
Diego González is a starter in the Paraguayan team that qualified for the final hexagon of the 2023 South American Sub-20. Photo: EFE
How did Diego González do in San Martín?
Diego Luis González took over as a foreigner from compatriot Rodrigo Melgarejo, a 2002 category centre-back who made just two appearances for San Martín and was sent off on his debut. Curiously, Melgarejo also came from Potros del Este and is currently a Celaya player despite not having met González on the field.
Melgarejo was a regular in the Paraguayan defense at the 2019 U-17 World Cup but also left Peruvian football silent (not even San Martín’s Twitter announced his loan to Morelia in 2021). González arrived just as Franco Zanelatto – the team’s young revelation in Phase 1 – was out through injury, but he didn’t have much of a chance with César Payovich or José Espinoza.
Both coaches almost always used a 4-2-3-1, but Kevin Ruiz and Piero Vivanco – despite not presenting a great level – were always in the lead to go over the wings. Zanelatto resumed the job after returning from injury, and González added just 73 minutes in three games. His last appearance was on September 13 when San Martín lost 2-0 to Universitario on Day 10.
Eventually, the Saints were relegated to the field at the end of the season. Still, the TAS decision that gave Cienciano two points for a game against Cusco FC favored González’s team, who finished 16th in the standings.