Luis Diaz continues stunning form in Colombia win as Liverpool handed favor

Luis Diaz continued his good early season form as Colombia returned to winning ways with a 4-0 victory over Chile in Barranquilla. The 27-year-old scored his side's second goal of the game to make it five wins in his last 12 appearances for his country.

One of the few criticisms Diaz has faced throughout his career is that he does not score as many goals as he should, but he has started to rectify that in recent times, registering seven goals already for club and country this season.

Diaz came in for criticism for his performance in Colombia's loss to Bolivia last week, but that result remains Colombia's only loss in 10 games in World Cup qualifying, with only Argentina ahead of Diaz and Co in the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying standings.

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Meanwhile, Diaz admitted that he is keen to add more goals to his game going forward. "Let’s hope so, that’s the idea,” said Diaz. “I always think about helping the team, which is the most important thing. I think it (13 goals for Liverpool last season) is a good number. I always try to get better each year, to improve on what I did the previous one, and the goals and assists come on their own.”

In the same interview with Uefa.com, Diaz spoke passionately about just how much his Colombian roots mean to him. The 27-year-old, who was born in Barrancas in the north of Colombia, lived in his home country up until 2019, when Portuguese side Porto signed him from Barranquillas-based team Atletico Junior.

Diaz said: "La Guajira (the area of Colombia that Barrancas is in) is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Barrancas is a place I’m proud of, knowing that I was born there, knowing that I came from there. The fact that my roots are in Barrancas has always been something that I’ve been proud of.

“Most people there know each other, they get along very well. They’re determined people, they also strive to better themselves. No matter how few opportunities they get and how little they have, they’re always trying to live life with a smile on their faces, trying to forge the best path forward for themselves, trying to be happy with what they have. They’re always cheerful, they’re always trying to forge the best path forward for themselves.”

Diaz also confirmed a legendary story about his childhood, which involved him losing a toenail while playing soccer on the streets of Barrancas. " It was great. When we were playing on a pitch in front of my grandmother’s house, all we cared about was playing football and having a good time. It used to be a dirt pitch, with stones, poor quality, but we were happy and we would play there. That’s where the story about my toenail comes in.

"There were too many stones and the ground was too dirty. I hit the ball wrong and my toenail came off. I said, ‘I don’t mind, I want to keep playing’. I wanted to keep playing, that’s all I wanted to do. I don’t know, I really didn’t care much about anything else. I put a plaster on and carried on playing.”