Diego Buonanotte

Diego Mario Buonanotte Rende (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈdjeɣo ˈmaɾjo βwonaˈnote ˈrende]; born 19 April 1988), is an Argentine footballer who plays for the Chilean club Universidad Católica as an attacking midfielder & winger.
He began his career with River Plate, where he won the Apertura in 2008, and later played in Spain with Málaga and Granada.
Buonanotte was part of the Argentine squad which won the gold medal at the 2008 Olympics.

River Plate

Born in Teodelina, Santa Fe, Buonanotte made his professional debut as a 17-year-old on 9 April 2006, in the 3–1 win against Instituto. On 7 October 2007, only one week after his first game, he scored his first goal at senior level. Buonanotte was picked by coach Daniel Passarella to start in the derby against Boca Juniors. River Plate won 2–0, with Buonanotte playing a key role in the victory. He was named by World Soccer magazine as one of the '50 most exciting teenagers in the world game'. Buonanotte was part of the 2008 Apertura winning team.

Málaga

On 21 January 2011 Buonanotte signed a five-year contract with Málaga CF, but he was loaned to River Plate until July 2011.The reason he left Malaga was not about his appearances with his team but the 1.6 million dollars that River Plate gave for a loan for him. He scored his first goal for Málaga on 21 December 2011 in a 2–2 home draw against Getafe CF in the Copa del Rey (winning 3–2 on aggregate.) On 21 November 2012, he scored his careers first Champions League goal, in a 2−2 away draw against Zenit. Also he scored goals against Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Granada

On 31 January 2013, Buonanotte signed a 4 and a half year contract with Granada. After moving to Granada, Buonanotte told Goal.com, he left Malaga in order to get playing time. He was previously linked with a move to Italian side Palermo but opted for Granada.

On 28 August 2014, after being left out of the first-team during the pre-season, Buonanotte was loaned to C.F. Pachuca in a one-year deal.

After playing in their pre-season in Mexico, Buonanotte signed on a six-month loan for Quilmes AC on 30 January 2015. The reason he left Granada was that he has a budly argument with his coach, so he goes on loan for 2 years.

AEK Athens

AEK Athens are set to complete the deal for Granada attacking midfielder Diego Buonanotte after the Argentine ace agreed terms with the Greek club. Buonanotte has verbally agreed to continue his career at AEK for the next two seasons and he is set to travel to Greece to undergo the medical and complete his transfer to AEK. On 15 August 2015, he signed a 2-year contract with AEK Athens.

Buonanotte in the 3rd day of the 2015-16 season scored twice in a 3-1 home win against PAS Giannina. Buonanotte for the first time as a starter, with a penalty kick counterbalances the score to 1-1. The Argentinian was trying to break with vertical passing defense, being the driving force eventually became the central figure of the match, as few minutes later after the equalizer with a dribble to Themistoklis Tzimopoulos scored his second goal to the match. On 22 November 2015, Buonanotte scored his 5th goal at Super League and helped AEK Athens win Panthrakikos at Komotini. "It was a difficult match, Panthrakikos gave us a lot of trouble, but we kept our confidence. When the team wins, we have more time to calm down and see again our mistakes. It was the first time Gustavo Poyet used me as a starter, that means I did well in training. My only thought is to improve, in defence and attack, and help the team gain victories", said the Argentinian midfielder after the match.On 2 December 2015, he scored two goals in his first appearance in the Greek Cup in a 6-0 home win against Panelefsiniakos F.C. On 17 December, he scored again two wonderful goals in a glorious 5-0 away win against Larissa F.C. for Greek Cup. He finished the year having 35 appearances (11 goals) with the club in all competitions.

Universidad Católica

On July 19, of 2016 he signed for Universidad Católica. There, he won the 2016-17 Apertura Championship, making 8 goals and playing 13 matches.

Buonanotte was selected by Sergio Batista to be one of the 18 players to represent Argentina in the 2008 Olympics. He only played in the third group-stage game against Serbia, scoring from a long-range free-kick. He won the gold medal with his national team at that tournament.

Car crash

In December 2009, Buonanotte survived a fatal car crash as the sole survivor after he lost control of his car on an Argentine freeway. He was taken to the hospital with multiple injuries while three friends who were traveling with him in the car died at the scene of the crash. The footballer was driving his father's Peugeot 307 back from a night out when he veered off the 65th highway and collided with a tree. The accident occurred about 15 km outside Clementina, Santa Fe. Another car carrying more friends of Buonanotte also arrived on the scene of the accident afterwards eager to find out what had happened. The footballer is said to have been conscious when he was pulled from the wreckage but had sustained serious injuries.

Eduardo Allegrini, director of the hospital, where Buonanotte was taken after the crash, said "(Buonanotte) has fractured his right humerus, right clavicle and has bruised his right lung". Allegrini clarified that the River player's condition was stable but he remained in intensive care under observation. Guillermo Fernández, a firefighter who helped pull Buonanotte from the crash site said: "Diego told us he lost control of the car".

Back to the pitch

It was initially thought that Buonanotte's convalescence would require up to seven months for complete recovery, but he was able to return to the pitch on 17 April 2010, when he replaced Diego Barrado in the second half of a match against Godoy Cruz. River won 2–1 at home. On 30 April, he scored for the first time since his accident, clinching a 2–1 victory against Vélez Sársfield at the Monumental. Later that year, A local prosecutor Carlos Colimedaglia, believes that Buonanotte should be charged with three counts of manslaughter. Buonanotte, himself, says he managed to cope with the accident but revealed the opposition fans shout slurs directed at him, like "murderer".

Club

River Plate

• Primera División: 1

2008 Clausura

AEK

• Greek Football Cup: 2015–16

Universidad Catolica

• Chilean Primera División: 1

Apertura 2016-17

• Supercopa de Chile: 1

2016

National team

Argentina U23

• Summer Olympics Gold Medal: 1

2008