Luis Diaz will return to Liverpool this week buoyed by his goalscoring role in Colombia’s 4-0 rout of Chile on Tuesday.
The Reds attacker doubled his country’s lead shortly after half-time in their 2026 World Cup qualifier as they ultimately cruised to victory in Barranquilla, a result which leaves them second in the South American standings and well on course to proceed automatically to the finals.
Duran’s heartfelt praise for Diaz
After the match, the 27-year-old was speaking to reporters in the stadium’s mixed zone when his interview was gatecrashed by Colombia teammate Jhon Duran, who joked: ‘This guy is very bad’ (via Infobae).
Diaz looked somewhat taken aback by the sudden intervention from the Aston Villa striker – who also netted against Chile – but the latter then very much set the record straight about the Liverpool star.
The 20-year-old told reporters that ‘the best thing the Colombian national team has’ and then vividly praised him as an ‘animal’.
Diaz has been sensational for club and country recently
Duran’s depiction of Diaz as an ‘animal’ was intended as compliment of the Liverpool attacker’s form in recent weeks, and it neatly sums up just how electric the 27-year-old has been recently.
With five goals to begin the campaign (plus two for Colombia since the start of September), our number 7 is the second-highest scorer in the Reds’ squad and is nearly halfway to matching his entire 2023/24 tally already.
Even that figure is eclipsed by the Aston Villa hotshot, who’s on six club goals for this term, including a delicious strike to condemn Bayern Munich to defeat in the Champions League a fortnight ago.
Cody Gakpo’s excellent showing at Euro 2024 – along with the lengthy transfer rumours surrounding Anthony Gordon – appear to have lit a flame under Diaz during the summer, and he’s responded with a tremendous first two months of the season.
Let’s hope it’s not just a purple patch and that he can maintain such fine form throughout the entire campaign for Liverpool!
