LIVE
...

Follow us on

News

Colombian media react to Liverpool’s Luis Diaz’s performance in 2-1 win vs Paraguay at Copa America

Liverpool winger Luis Diaz has now begun his Copa America 2024 campaign with Colombia, beating Paraguay in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Diaz started in his customary left-wing role in the 2-1 win, a match in which former Everton midfielder James Rodriguez stole the headlines.

Rodriguez claimed both assists for Colombia’s goals, which were scored by Crystal Palace duo Daniel Munoz and Jefferson Lerma.

At 27-years-old, Diaz is now a vital figure for his country, and earned his 50th cap against Paraguay.

In total, the Liverpool winger has scored 12 goals for Colombia, a tally he’ll hope to add to as the month progresses.

Of course, there has been speculation that Diaz could leave Liverpool for Barcelona this summer.

Photo by ARIC BECKER/AFP via Getty Images
Photo by ARIC BECKER/AFP via Getty Images

Barca’s sporting director, Deco, seems determined to tempt the winger to the Catalan capital, a saga that could continue throughout the summer.

However, if he remains at Liverpool – which currently seems likely, the Colombian could be crucial for Arne Slot.

Luis Diaz handed 6/10 rating for Colombia but is ‘forgiven’ for his misses

Slot’s teams have historically put a big emphasis on their wide forward’s creativity, which could suit Diaz perfectly.

That being said, Colombian media have now been sharing their reaction to Diaz’s display, which was rather mixed.

delivered a sombre review of Diaz’s 90 minutes, saying the Liverpool man was trying too hard.

They wrote: “Luis Diaz: at times he did one too many, but he is forgiven. He missed a clear scoring option. Several balls went long. 6/10.”

were more complimentary of the winger’s display, pointing out the selfless role Diaz played.

They shared: “Luis Diaz, as usual with both the Colombian National Team and Liverpool in the Premier League, stood out for his individual plays, which went viral and stood out in the match against the Paraguay squad.

“But despite this, Luis Díaz was seen to have sacrificed much more for the team.”

The review was initially referring to some eyebrow-raising pieces of skill Diaz delivered in the match, which were heavily clipped by local media.

Diaz comments on frustrating night for Colombia

Speaking via the same source, Semana, Diaz did actually provide a review of his own performance after the game.

The Liverpool winger was frustrated not to score, but said all the right things about putting his team first.

Diaz said: “It’s my game, my characteristic, what I know how to do, I try to enjoy football.

“But first it is the team, it’s unfortunate I could not score a goal, which was what I wanted to do to help the team.

“But it was a win, which was what we wanted. The team is in tune, it was not going to be easy.

“We scored two goals, a very good lead, then they [Paraguay] reacted, but we had to score one or two more. We are going to have a good championship, I have no doubt about that.”

All that being said, it seems as if Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold will drop to the bench for England against Slovenia on Wednesday.

And England teammate Declan Rice has now been sharing his thoughts on Trent.