Diego Marquez (Napoleon's World)

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 Cup of the Americas 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 Cup of the Americas 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 thirteen of Peru's eighteen 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 Alaska, was a favorite to 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 Alaska, 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.