Diego Rafael Marquez Nunez (born 7 February, 1982) is a Peruvian footballer currently playing for Argentinean club Racing. Marquez is a winger, best known for his performance at the 2008 FISA World Cup, in which he was the top scorer of the tournament on six goals, five of which came in the knockout rounds, as he led Peru to an historic bronze medal finish. Marquez has spent his entire career in Latin America.
International Career[]
Marquez received his first call-up to the Peru senior team in 2001, when he participated in training for the 2002 Hemisphere Cup qualifying campaign and started in a game against Aruba. He was not selected as part of the team that traveled to Brazil for the tournament.
Marquez would start in five games of the qualifying campaign for the 2004 World Cup in Argentina, in which he scored two goals. He was selected as part of the final 23-man roster, and started their opening game in Santa Fe on the wing against South Africa, a stunning 2-0 loss. Peru was officially eliminated after a 2-1 loss to the hosts in their second game, played in Rosario, before winning a consolation match over Danubia at La Bombonera 1-0, with Marquez scoring the only goal.
Marquez scored four goals in qualifying for Canada 2006, and at that year's Hemisphere Cup he started once again on the wing. He had a better tournament, scoring twice in the group stage to help Peru advance to the knockout round for the first time since 1990, where they were defeated by eventual champions Colombia.
Marquez became the national hero during the 2008 FISA World Cup cycle. He scored seven goals in the qualifying campaign, a record for Peru, and became part of a dynamic attack with teammate Paolo Guerrero. Together, they accounted for 13 of Peru's 18 goals in the qualifiers and they place second out of the CONAM places. The Marquez-Guerrero pair would feature prominently in Oceania, together scoring all eight of the goals Peru scored in the tournament.
Peru, drawn into a group with Switzerland, Algeria and Denmark, was an underdog to merely advance out of their group for the first time since 1980. They drew their opening match with Switzerland 1-1 in Adelaide, and Marquez scored his first goal of the tournament in a 1-0 win over Algeria in Brisbane. With a subsequent 1-0 win over Denmark, Peru advanced as the second place team in Group D on goal difference with Switzerland. In the knockout rounds, Marquez scored all five of Peru's goals, first in a 1-0 win over favored Spain in Gold Coast, and then against hosts and tournament favorites Oceania in a stunning draw at Sydney National Harbour. Marquez converted his penalty as Peru advanced after a 4-3 penalty shootout win to their first semifinal in history. Against Jamaica in Auckland, Marquez scored on Willy Good - who had until then kept five straight clean sheets - in a draw. While he converted his penalty kick, the first taken, none of his teammates were able to convert against Good and Peru went to the bronze medal game in Melbourne, which they won 2-1 over Mali courtesy of two Marquez goals in the second half to come back from a 1-0 deficit at the half. Marquez was awarded the Golden Boot for top scorer and the Silver Ball for the second-best player of the tournament, behind Good, to go with his bronze medal.
Marquez scored twice in Peru's qualifying campaign for the 2010 Hemisphere Cup in Argentina. He would captain the team in Argentina, where they placed second in a group with the hosts. Peru would go down to defeat against Brazil in the quarterfinal in Rosario, however. Marquez would not score any goals at the tournament, but did provide two assists.
Marquez scored four more goals in the qualifying campaign for the 2012 World Cup in Turkey. He would score two goals in Turkey, one goal each in Peru's two group stage wins over Camenbal and Germany. In the last game of the round, however, needing only a point to place first in the group, Peru went down to defeat against East Prussia in Antalya 2-0, with Marquez picking up a knee injury in the second half. Peru would again face Oceania in the knockouts, this time in the Round of 16, and the Blue and White earned their revenge with a 1-0 defeat of Peru in Edirne. Marquez did not play in the match.
Marquez appeared only sporadically during the qualifying campaign for USA 2014, and did not play in any intervening friendlies due to multiple injury issues, scoring no goals for Peru in the intervening cycle. He would feature in the final 23-man roster, however, and came on as a substitute in two games. Peru advanced to the quarterfinals, where they were defeated by eventual champions Argentina. Marquez would not score any goals this time either, but did contribute an assist. He announced his retirement from the national team following the tournament, though he did return in a testimonial friendly against French West Africa in Lima to a thunderous crowd reaction, in which he scored a brace - his final two goals for the Peru national team.