Santo Domingo of Samara is where a girl who has great passion in everything she does was born on January 14, 1988. The poverty and limitations that she has lived with since she was a baby were not big enough obstacles to achieving each of the goals set by Dinia Diaz, so much so that her father, Concepcion Diaz, describes the goalie of the Women’s Soccer Selection team as a woman who “was born to be triumphant.”
The Samara native will play in the 2015 Women’s Soccer World Cup, which will take place in Canada starting June 6th.
“She has been that way in everything. What she sets out to do, she fights until she achieves it and she never underestimates herself. For her, getting into a boat and going fishing is like nothing. Once we went fishing and while my companions and I couldn’t catch anything, she went to the other side and when we saw her, she was loaded with fish,” Diaz said.
Her mother, Cecilia Artavia, describes her as a peaceful and humble, dedicated and responsible youth. She is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in physical education at the university.
According to her father, while doing her farm chores, Dinia was developing agility, athletic skills, physical strength, courage and bravery, which she later put into practice playing soccer.
Her first soccer competitions were played with her classmates in the plaza of El Torito of Samara. At that time, she played as a fielder.
Her Hard Times
Playing for the Flores team in the first division in Heredia in 2011, she experienced one of the worst moments of her career— an injury to her right knee that left her on the sidelines for several months. The doctors who cared for her even forbid her from playing soccer again. However, she clung to her passion and followed the advice her mom always gave her: “Daughter, you should always remain calm and in control,” and she managed to recover.
That injury endangered her participation with the National Selection team, but her spiritual strength overcame it. Her desire to headline with her present team, Moravia, and to be in the National Selection, requires daily sacrifice, starting to train with the team at 5 a.m. being ready to start her work day at 8 a.m. with the Costa Rican Soccer Federation, where she has worked for one year.
“There are many difficult moments. As athletes, injuries are like a ghost that always haunts us, but the support of my family is the force that drives me to fight. I think that the word sacrifice is what identifies those of us who are in this Selection, because behind every one of us is a story of effort and sacrifice,” said Dinia, and with a twinkle in her eye, she added, “but today we have the reward of being in the world cup.”
The soccer player, who was the heroine blocking three penalties and achieving the historic qualification of the greatest women’s selection for the 2015 Canadian World Cup, intends to continue making history and triumphing.
“If anything has characterized us, it is character and personality. For this world cup, we carry a great responsibility. It is an honor to represent the colors of our country, and what I can say for sure is that we will give our soul, life and heart on the field,” Dinia said.
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