Raúl Díaz Arce

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Raúl Díaz Arce
Personal information
Full name Raúl Ignacio Díaz Arce
Date of birth February 1, 1970 (1970-02-01) (age 38)
Place of birth    San Miguel, El Salvador
Playing position Striker
Youth clubs
1988-1990 C.D. Dragon
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1988-90
1991-96
1996-97
1998
1999
1999-2000
2000
2001
2002
2002-2003
2004
 C.D. Dragon
C.D. Luis Angel Firpo
D.C. United
New England Revolution
San Jose Clash
Tampa Bay Mutiny
D.C. United
Colorado Rapids
Club Deportivo Aguila
Charleston Battery
Puerto Rico Islanders
 (150)

50 (38)
32 (18)
18 (4)
20 (13)
18 (6)
12(3)
24 (5)
15 (7)   
National team2
1987-2003 El Salvador 55 (39)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 19 November 2006.
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 14 April 2006.
* Appearances (Goals)

Raúl Díaz Arce (born February 1, 1970 in San Miguel, El Salvador) is a retired Salvadoran football (soccer) player, the all-time leading scorer for the El Salvador national team, with 39 goals in 55 appearances.

Diaz Arce played for Dragon of the Salvadoran second division from 1988 to 1991, and then moved up to play for C.D. Luis Angel Firpo of the Salvadoran first division from 1991 to 1996, scoring a total of 150 goals in his time there, including 25 in the 1995-96 season.

In 1996, Diaz Arce signed with Major League Soccer, and was drafted tenth overall in the MLS Inaugural Player Draft by D.C. United. He quickly established himself as a dangerous striker in the league, scoring 23 goals in his first season with United, second in the league behind Roy Lassiter, and still the fifth best single-season mark in MLS history. Diaz Arce continued to light things up in his second season, registering 15 goals, and helping D.C. United to win their second consecutive MLS Cup.

Salary cap pressures, and reported conflicts between Diaz Arce and Marco Etcheverry, resulted in D.C. trading one of the league's most prolific scorers to the New England Revolution in the offseason of 1997. Diaz Arce continued to excel in New England, scoring 18 goals and 8 assists for his new team.

Nevertheless, Diaz Arce was traded again, and would eventually play for the Tampa Bay Mutiny and San Jose Clash, as well as being briefly owned by the MetroStars, registering 13 goals and 7 assists in the 1999 season. Diaz Arce would continue to be shuttled around in 2000, playing for Tampa Bay and D.C. again in 2000, and scoring a career low 9 goals. Diaz Arce continued to decline in 2001, playing only briefly for D.C. United before being traded again to the Colorado Rapids, with whom he would end his career in MLS. Diaz Arce left MLS second in career goals scored with 82, behind only Roy Lassiter, although he has fallen to sixth as Jason Kreis, Jaime Moreno, Ante Razov and Jeff Cunningham have surpassed both of their totals.

For the 2002 season, Diaz Arce played for the Charleston Battery of the A-League, scoring 6 goals and 4 assists in 1319 minutes. He was not the success Charleston had hoped for, however, and left following the year. In 2004, Diaz Arce joined the struggling expansion Puerto Rico Islanders, and gave the team a significant boost, scoring two goals in his first game and a total of 7 in 1233 minutes, and helping the team attain a level of respectability. He is now a coach for the United States U-17 squad.

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