Raúl Díaz Arce (born February 1, 1970) is a Salvadoran former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is El Salvador's most prolific goal scorer, with 39 goals in just 68 appearances.
Playing career
From 1985 to 1986, Arce played for Deportivo Jalapa in Guatemala. From 1988 to 1991, Arce played for Dragon in the Salvadoran second division, where he was the league's leading scorer in the 1991–92 season with 21 goals. Playing for Dragon, in two seasons in first division, "Ignacio Raul" scored 34 goals (13 in 1989–90 and 21 in 1990–91), in the second season he was the scoring champion of the regular season when he played four laps.
He then moved up to play for C.D. Luis Ángel Firpo of the Salvadoran first division from 1991 to 1996. Here he was the league's top scorer three season in a row (1993–1996) with 24, 21 and 25 goals, respectively. In Luis Ángel Firpo he scored in five seasons with a total of 119 goals. These early achievements earned him a spot in the national team and a move to the United States.
D.C. United
In 1996, Diaz Arce signed with Major League Soccer, and was drafted tenth overall in the MLS Inaugural Player Draft by D.C. United on February 6. On April 20, Diaz Arce recorded the first goal in D.C. United's history when he scored in the 7th minute against the LA Galaxy. Diaz Arce was also the first player in MLS history to score a hat-trick in postseason play. He scored 3 against the Tampa Bay Mutiny on October 10, 1996. DC United won 4-1 and went on to become the first MLS champions. Diaz Arce continued to perform well in his second season, registering 15 goals, and helping D.C. United to win their second consecutive MLS Cup. thumb|D.C. United Hall of Tradition
New England Revolution
Salary cap pressures and reported conflicts between Diaz Arce and Marco Etcheverry, resulted in D.C. trading one of the league's most prolific scorers to the New England Revolution. The deal was not well received by D.C. United's fanbase.
On February 5, 1998, in what would become the first three-team trade in MLS history, New England acquired Diaz Arce from D.C. United in exchange
for Alexi Lalas and a second-round pick in the 1999 MLS College Draft, which were traded to the MetroStars
with the MetroStars' second-round pick in the 1999 MLS College Draft and future considerations going to D.C. United along with New England's first-round pick in
the 1999 MLS College Draft. Diaz Arce made his Revolution debut in the first match of a season, a loss to his former club, on March 29, 1998. He scored his first Revolution goal the following match, in a 2–1 defeat to the Miami Fusion on April 4.
End of MLS career
Nevertheless, Diaz Arce was traded again, and eventually played for the Tampa Bay Mutiny and San Jose Clash, as well as briefly with the MetroStars, registering 13 goals and 7 assists in the 1999 season. Diaz Arce continued to be shuttled around in 2000, playing for Tampa Bay and D.C. again in 2000, and scoring a career low 9 goals. Diaz Arce continued to decline in 2001, playing only briefly for D.C. United, before being traded again to the Colorado Rapids, with whom he ended his career in MLS.
Diaz Arce left MLS second in career goals scored with 82, behind only Roy Lassiter; although he has fallen as others have surpassed both of their totals.
Charleston & Puerto Rico
For the 2002 season, Diaz Arce played for the Charleston Battery of the A-League, scoring 6 goals and 4 assists in 1319 minutes. He was not the success Charleston had hoped for, however, and left following the year. In 2004, Diaz Arce joined the struggling expansion Puerto Rico Islanders, and gave the team a significant boost, scoring two goals in his first game and a total of 7 in 1233 minutes, and helping the team attain a level of respectability. He is now the U.S. Soccer Development Academy Director at the Chicago Magico Soccer Club.
International career
Diaz Arce made his debut for El Salvador in an April 1991 UNCAF Nations Cup qualification match against Nicaragua in which he scored two goals. Over his career, he earned a total of 68 caps, scoring a record 39 goals. He represented his country in 28 FIFA World Cup qualification matches and played at several UNCAF Nations Cups as well as at the 1996 and 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cups.
His final international was a September 2000 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Honduras.
International goals
:Scores and results list El Salvador's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each El Salvador goal.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of international goals scored by Raúl Díaz Arce
|-
!scope=col | No.
!scope=col | Date
!scope=col | Venue
!scope=col | Opponent
!scope=col | Score
!scope=col | Result
!scope=col | Competition
!scope=col class="unsortable" |
|-
| align="center" | 1
|rowspan=2|
|rowspan=2|Dennis Martínez National Stadium, Managua, Nicaragua
|rowspan=3|
| align="center" |1–0
| align="center" rowspan=2|3–2
|rowspan=3|1991 UNCAF Nations Cup qualification
|
|-
| align="center" | 2
| align="center" |3–2
|
|-
| align="center" | 3
|
|Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador, El Salvador
| align="center" |2–0
| align="center" |2–0
|
|-
| align="center" | 4
|
|Estadio Nacional, San José, Costa Rica
|
| align="center" |1–0
| align="center" |1–7
|1991 UNCAF Nations Cup
|
|-
| align="center" | 5
|
|Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador, El Salvador
|
| align="center" |2–1
| align="center" |2–1
|1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
|
|-
| align="center" | 6
|
|Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States
|
| align="center" |1–2
| align="center" |1–2
|Friendly
|
|-
| align="center" | 7
|
|Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino, Tegucigalpa, Honduras
|
| align="center" |1–0
| align="center" |1–1
|1993 UNCAF Nations Cup
|
|-
| align="center" | 8
|rowspan=2|
|rowspan=4|Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador, El Salvador
|rowspan=2|
| align="center" |1–1
| align="center" rowspan=2|2–2
|rowspan=3|Friendly
|
|-
| align="center" | 9
| align="center" |2–1
|
|-
| align="center" | 10
|
|
| align="center" |1–0
| align="center" |2–2
|
|-
| align="center" | 11
|
|rowspan=4|
| align="center" |1–0
| align="center" |2–1
|1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
|
|-
| align="center" | 12
|rowspan=3|
|rowspan=3|Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, United States
| align="center" |1–0
| align="center" rowspan=3|3–1
|rowspan=3|Miami Cup
|
|-
| align="center" | 13
| align="center" |2–0
|
|-
| align="center" | 14
| align="center" |3–0
|
|-
| align="center" | 15
|
|rowspan=2|Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador, El Salvador
|
| align="center" |3–0
| align="center" |3–0
|rowspan=2|1995 UNCAF Nations Cup
|
|-
| align="center" | 16
|
|
| align="center" |1–0
| align="center" |2–1
|
|-
| align="center" | 17
|rowspan=2|
|rowspan=2|Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim, United States
|rowspan=2|
| align="center" |1–0
| align="center" rowspan=2|3–2
|rowspan=2|1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup
|
|-
| align="center" | 18
| align="center" |3–2
|
|-
| align="center" | 19
|rowspan=2|
|rowspan=2|Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador, El Salvador
|rowspan=2|
| align="center" |1–0
| align="center" rowspan=2|5–0
|rowspan=9|1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
|
|-
| align="center" | 20
| align="center" |4–0
|
|-
| align="center" | 21
|
|Estadio Rommel Fernández, Panama City, Panama
|rowspan=2|
| align="center" |1–1
| align="center" |1–1
|
|-
| align="center" | 22
|
|rowspan=5|Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador, El Salvador
| align="center" |1–1
| align="center" |3–2
|
|-
| align="center" | 23
|
|
| align="center" |2–0
| align="center" |3–0
|
|-
| align="center" | 24
|
|
| align="center" |1–0
| align="center" |2–1
|
|-
| align="center" | 25
|
|
| align="center" |1–1
| align="center" |1–1
|
|-
| align="center" | 26
|
|
| align="center" |4–1
| align="center" |4–1
|
|-
| align="center" | 27
|
|Foxboro Stadium, Foxboro, United States
|
| align="center" |2–3
| align="center" |2–4
|
|-
| align="center" | 28
|
|rowspan=2|Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States
|
| align="center" |1–1
| align="center" |1–2
|rowspan=2|2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup qualification
|
|-
| align="center" | 29
|
|
| align="center" |1–1
| align="center" |1–3
|
|-
| align="center" | 30
|rowspan=2|
|rowspan=2|Estadio Jorge "Mágico" González, San Salvador, El Salvador
|rowspan=2|
| align="center" |2–0
| align="center" rowspan=2|3–1
|rowspan=2|Friendly
|
|-
| align="center" | 31
| align="center" |3–1
|
|-
| align="center" | 32
|
|Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador, El Salvador
|
| align="center" |3–0
| align="center" |5–0
|2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
|
|-
| align="center" | 33
|
|Estadio Jorge "Mágico" González, San Salvador, El Salvador
|
| align="center" |1–0
| align="center" |3–1
|Friendly
|
|-
| align="center" | 34
|
|Estadio Doroteo Guamuch Flores, Guatemala City, Guatemala
|
| align="center" |3–0
| align="center" |5–0
|rowspan=6|2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
|
|-
| align="center" | 35
|
|People's Stadium, Orange Walk Town, Belize
|
| align="center" |1–0
| align="center" |3–1
|
|-
| align="center" | 36
|
|rowspan=4|Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador, El Salvador
|
| align="center" |1–0
| align="center" |3–1
|
|-
| align="center" | 37
|rowspan=3|
|rowspan=3|
| align="center" |5–1
| align="center" rowspan=3|7–1
|
|-
| align="center" | 38
| align="center" |6–1
|
|-
| align="center" | 39
| align="center" |7–1
|
|}
Honours
C.D. Luis Ángel Firpo
- Primera División de Fútbol de El Salvador: 1991–92, 1992–93
D.C. United
- MLS Cup: 1996, 1997
- MLS Supporters' Shield: 1997
- U.S. Open Cup: 1996
Charleston Battery
- USL First Division: 2003
- Southern Derby: 2003
Individual
- MLS All-Star: 1997, 1998, 1999
- DC United Hall of Tradition: August 26, 2009
- Salvadoran Primera División top scorer (4): 1990-91, 1993-94, 1994-95,1995–96