Players - Diego Cavalieri

Diego Cavalieri
Birthdate: 1 December 1982
Birthplace: São Paulo, Brazil
Other clubs: Palmeiras (2001-08), Cesena (2010), Fluminense (2010-17), Crystal Palace (2018), Botafogo (2019-21)
Signed from: Palmeiras
Signed for LFC: £3.5m, 11.07.2008
International debut: 22.11.2012 vs. Argentina
International caps: 2/0 - 25.04.2013
Liverpool debut: 23.09.2008
Last appearance: 05.08.2010
Contract expiry: 23.08.2010
Win ratio: 60% W:6 D:0 L:4
League games / goals / assists: 0 / 0 / 0
Total games / goals / assists: 10 / 0 / 0
League clean sheets: 0
Total clean sheets: 4

Player Profile

Cavalieri had a difficult task to displace Jose Reina as Liverpool's number one. He was the third Brazilian who put pen to paper at Liverpool following in the footsteps of Aurelio and Lucas. The shot stopper played over 100 games for Palmeiras since making his debut in 2002, but when he joined Liverpool he was second choice to legend Marcos. As expected Cavalieri mainly got his chance in Liverpool's goal in his debut season in the local cup competitions. He conceded one goal against Crewe in the third round of the League Cup and was hardly impressive in Liverpool's 4-2 loss at Tottenham in the fourth round. He was between the sticks against PSV Eindhoven in December 2008 when Liverpool had already progressed from the group phase of the Champions League and kept a clean sheet in the third round of the FA Cup against Preston North End.

Reina's form and stature were enough to ensure that Cavalieri remained on the bench most of the time the following season, with his only starts being against Leeds and Arsenal in the League Cup, a Reading replay in the FA Cup and the final Champions League group match with Fiorentina, by which time Liverpool had already been eliminated from the competition. Cavalieri featured in both of Liverpool's third qualifying round matches of the Europa League against Rabotnicki at the start of the 2009/10 season. On 23 August 2010 he moved to newly-promoted Seria A side, Cesena, to play first-team football on a regular basis. Cavalieri spent six months at Cesena where the coach elected to play a 41-year-old veteran ahead of him. At the end of December 2010 and shortly after his twenty-eighth birthday, Cavalieri returned to his homeland to sign for Fluminense. He played a key role in the club's Brazilian Championship title win in 2012. 

Towards the end of 2012 Cavalieri played for the full Brazilian team for the first time in a 2-1 defeat in Argentina. He was also selected to play against Chile in a home international in April 2013, a match which ended in a 2-2 draw. He continued to be a regular first-choice in Fluminese's goal for most of 2013 and was also a member of the Brazilian squad that competed in the 2013 Confederations Cup, which was held in the country of his birth. He did not see any game-time in that tournament though because both he and Jefferson were back-ups to Brazil's regular goalkeeper, Julio Cesar. His club appearances decreased in the early part of 2014 so it wasn't a major surprise that he did not make his country's World Cup squad, but he remained at Fluminese for 2014 and 2015. After leaving there in 2017 he joined Crystal Palace on a short term deal in March 2018 until the end of the season. He was an unused substitute five times and after being without a club for the first half of 2018-19 joined Rio side Botafogo in the January transfer window, where he had to settle for being back up keeper. He left Botafogo in September 2021 and has been without a club since. 

Appearances per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 0 2 4 4 0 10
2008-2009 0 1 2 1 0 4
2009-2010 0 1 2 1 0 4
2010-2011 0 0 0 2 0 2
A more detailed look at the player's appearances
Apps Minutes Opponent
2 180 Rabotnicki
1 120 Reading
1 90 Leeds United
1 90 Preston North End
1 90 Arsenal
1 90 Tottenham
1 90 Crewe
1 90 Fiorentina
1 90 PSV Eindhoven
Total Started/substitutions
10 Started
103 On the bench
0 Substitute
0 Substituted
Total Venue
6 Away
4 Home
Total Competition
4 League Cup
2 Europa League
2 Champions League
2 FA Cup
Total W D L Win % Manager
8 4 0 4 50% Rafa Benítez
2 2 0 0 100% Roy Hodgson
Clean sheets per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 0 1 1 2 0 4
2008-2009 0 1 0 0 0 1
2009-2010 0 0 1 0 0 1
2010-2011 0 0 0 2 0 2
Milestone Appearances
# Date Against Stadium Competition
1 23.09.2008 Crewe Anfield League Cup
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Other Clubs
Club Season Club rank League apps League goals Total apps Total goals
Palmeiras 2001-2008 Brazil 1 104 0 104 0
Cesena 2010-2011 Italy Seria B 0 0 1 0
Fluminese 2011-2012 Brazil 1 34 0 35 0
Fluminese 2012-2013 Brazil 1 35 0 45 0
Fluminese 2013-2014 Brazil 1 29 0 39 0
Fluminese 2014-2015 Brazil 1 32 0 32 0
Fluminese 2015-2016 Brazil 1 35 0 35 0
Fluminese 2016-2017 Brazil 1 23 0 23 0
Fluminese 2017-2018 Brazil 1 16 0 20 0
Crystal Palace 2017-2018 Premier League 0 0 0 0
Botafogo 2019 Brazil 1 9 0 9 0
Botafogo 2020 Brazil 1 22 0 26 0
Total 339 0 369 0