RSL’s newest Designated Player, Diogo Gonçalves, has arrived in Utah and is currently awaiting his International Transfer Certificate and P-1 visa approval in order to hopefully be eligible for the Club’s next MLS reg. season match, on Saturday, August 24, with a 7:30p MT kickoff at America First Field against the visiting San Jose Earthquakes. Tickets are available at www.RSL.com/tickets for yet another expected sellout in Sandy, one which would be the Club’s seventh consecutive standing-room only match, and the ninth in 13 home matches.
Here's some things you should know about Diogo as we welcome him to Utah:
1) Diogo and RSL’s Captain, Chicho Arango, crossed paths during the Summer of 2017 at one of Europe’s most famous clubs, Benfica. Since that time, the two have stayed connected via social media, with Chicho’s Insta feed one of Diogo’s sources on the RSL culture, MLS action and the fan fervor of the Riot.
2) Diogo boasts a vast amount of UEFA Champions League experience, moreso than any player to have ever arrived on the Wasatch Front in the last 20 years of RSL soccer. In just the last nine months, Diogo has faced off against world powerhouses Manchester United, Manchester City, Galatasaray and Bayern Munich, scoring a goal last November against Man Utd in a 4-3 group stage match. All told, Diogo started seven of eight matches against this quartet, playing 566 total minutes and scoring twice.
3) Diogo’s hometown of Almodôvar, Portugal, is located in the southern region of Portugal, quite close to where RSL participated in this February’s Atlantic Cup as part of the Utah side’s preseason preparations. In that tournament, RSL faced off against fellow David Blitzer-run side Brøndby, which happens to be the chief rival for Diogo’s former side, FC Copenhagen in the Danish Superligaen.
4) Diogo is believed to be the 20th Portuguese player to arrive in MLS since 1996, joining four other active players: Luis Martins (Vancouver), Pedro Santos (D.C. United), Xande Silva (Atlanta) and Bruno Wilson (San Jose). Former standouts include Nani (Orlando, 2019-21), José Gonçalves (New England, 2013-16), João Pedro (LA Galaxy 2017-18) and Abel Xavier (LA Galaxy, 2007-08). Former RSL starlet David Viana – here in Utah for just a few months in 2012 – also held a Portuguese passport.
5) Diogo’s RSL arrival marks his third stint playing professionally outside his home country, following 10 games on loan at Nottingham Forest in England (EFL Championship, 2018-19) and his 57-match career over the last 18 months with FC Copenhagen.
6) Diogo boasts three Cup-winning sides on his resume, with the latter two coming in Copenhagen – the 2022/23 Danish Superliga champions, as well as the 2023 Danish Cup titlists. Diogo was on Benfica’s 2022-23 Primeira Liga champions as well for the first half of that campaign, giving him the rare distinction of winning league titles with two teams in two different countries during the same season.
7) Across both his youth and professional career, Diogo has amassed impressive numbers nearly everywhere: 20 goals in 57 games for Copenhagen, 3 goals in 97 games for Benfica’s senior team, 15 goals in 86 matches for Benfica’s B team, 11 goals in 19 games for Benfica’s U19s, 20 goals in 71 appearances with the Portugal youth national teams, and 7 goals in 44 games on loan from Benfica to Nottingham Forest/ Famalicão.
8) Gonçalves is the second RSL player – both now active – to have played extensively with Copenhagen, as Costa Rican international Bryan Oviedo enjoyed three stints during his European career in the Danish capitol, playing a total of 76 games for Byens Hold in Dec. 2009/10 (five games), July 2011 – Aug. 2012 (39 games) and July 2019 – June 2022 (32 games). While Oviedo signed with RSL as a free agent in the Summer 2022 window, he and Diogo are now the two players to have come directly from Copenhagen to Salt Lake via more than just the Delta direct flight!
