The ball is falling and Luis Díaz is looking at it, he is following it so that it doesn’t get lost, he ties it with his eyes, he draws it towards his body that begins to contort, and when it is close enough, it launches into acrobatics, floating in the area, flying backwards; then he nails the chalaca and sends that docile ball to the Brazilian net, that’s how it was in the last Copa América; It may be the best goal he scored in 2021, and in his 24 years, but he has done more things, his repertoire ranges from the Chilean to the heel, from the tunnel to the bicycle, on land and in the air, in the Copa América or in the Champions, with Porto, with the National Team.
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Díaz was the best Colombian footballer of 2021 and at the start of 2022 he officially joined Liverpool.
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This Saturday at 2 pm (ESPN and Star+), ‘Lucho’ has the opportunity to make history and become the first Colombian footballer to start in a Uefa Champions League final. And, better yet, being the first to be champion while on the field.
Luis Díaz is a common name in Colombia, anyone is called louis diaz, but in the world of football it already has resonance. In Europe, saying Luis Díaz is talking about an intriguing footballer, because he has a football that excites, a game of tricks. There they talk about him with the certainty that they are facing a dazzling, different player. A Díaz who is daring, who does not hide on the field. A Luis who throws chalacas even to Brazil. In Portugal, where he has played since 2019, they did not doubt his special season.
And Luis Díaz is so simple, so personable, so quiet. A friendly, shy Diaz. A Díaz who only explodes on the field, where he remains silent, but where he is willing to invent plays that make noise: his football is always new. But we were saying that he is very simple, a Díaz who does not live in controversy.
From Noodle to Lucho
He was so skinny that no one called him Luis or Lucho, he was simply ‘Fideo’. That was what they called him when he was just starting to dream about football. So he didn’t think about the National Team, or Porto, or scoring goals with a Chilean kick against Brazil, or maybe he did, but he just played, grabbed the ball and didn’t let go, his head scraping the grass, until he ran out of pitch and kept running. This is how ‘Fideo’ Díaz was in his hometown team, Barrancas, in La Guajira, where he was born, with his Wayús roots, although not one hundred percent Wayú, as he himself has said. But he was skinny, very skinny, almost malnourished. This is how he is remembered by those who knew him at that time.
John ‘Pocillo’ Diaz, former soccer player and trainer, was one of the first in Luis’s career. He came to meet him in 2015, at the first National Indigenous Championship. Even today, six years later, he remembers him arriving behind his father, with his fragile little walk, his innocent look, as if fearful. Pocillo and Carlos the ‘Pibe’ Valderrama They were in charge of defining a Colombian indigenous team. And there was Diaz, or Fideo, and why not if in the first ball he already left them speechless.
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“That skinny guy from the beginning was clumsy, malnourished, but he had interesting things, he played as a striker and never raised his head, but when it came to dribbling and having the ball at his feet he was very fast, and of course, we chose him” , tells El Pocillo to EL TIEMPO, and recounts that when he arrived in Bogotá he came in shorts and a skeleton, because he did not know what the weather was like. They had to go out and get him clothes.
They placed him as an outside midfielder on the right, yes, on the right was where he started, but they quickly realized that he had a tendency to go inside the court to kick, then it was outlined with the left, which lacked all power. So Pocillo and El Pibe moved him to the left so that he could do the same thing, only with his profile, and his shots carried dynamite. “Then we tried to get him to be more associative, because Luis took the ball and didn’t give it to anyone,” El Pocillo recalls with a laugh.
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In that Indigenous America Cup, which was in Chile, Diaz scored 7 goals in total; Colombia was runner-up, and he played so well that a team in Arica wanted to keep him. Pocillo says that the Indigenous Organization did not let him and Barranquilla FC had already seen him. It was when he passed into the hands of coach Arturo Reyes, today Junior’s coach.
So, the ‘Fideo’ Díaz began to be Lucho Díaz. He increased body mass, because that was mandatory, but that stage was not easy. DT Carlos ‘Piscis’ Restrepo took him to the Colombia under-20 team in 2017but at first he hesitated to take it to the South American of Ecuador.
With him we had medical doubts due to his physical condition and the answer he could provide. There was talk of malnutrition and not having the muscle to support a South American
“We are at the forefront of an example case for youth, because of the way it appears and what it is today. With him we had medical doubts due to his physical condition and the answer he could provide. There was talk of malnutrition and not having the muscle to support a South American. We called him, but thinking more about closing the games. And there, he marks a path with many people helping him. He is a boy who, due to his humility, is very receptive, willing to grow and give his best and sacrifice himself to reach the elite”, says the Pisces.
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In the 2017 passed to the Junior of Julio Comesaña, and quickly conquered the fans with his dribbles. He then made the leap to Porto de Portugal, where today he does not stop dazzling and where won a League, a Cup and a Super Cup. Today is another Díaz, with the same look, with the same trick, but he is another. “Today we see an extraordinary performance due to his effort to improve physically, to arm himself better, and today he is unbalanced, with speed and skill, he plays as a winger, he is fast, and with a goal,” says the Pisces.
A special 2021 for Díaz
Luis Díaz is now a proper name, resounding. The International Federation of History and Statistics included him among the 32 best of 2021, a list where he rubbed shoulders with Messi and Ronaldo. He was the best Colombian soccer player in the last Copa América in Brazil, where he scored four goals, and shared Golden Boot with Messi. Fifa highlighted him as one of the best of last year. Milan coach Stefano Pioli said before facing him in the Champions League: “If I have to name a player, I will choose Luis Díaz. He impressed me with his quality and speed.” And Díaz scores and scores every week, and invents plays and makes the public feel like a soccer public.
Today, without a doubt, he is the great figure of the League in Portugal and one of the best in the Champions League. I think it will not be possible to stay in Portugal after the end of the season.
In Portugal they fell in love with Díaz. “I define it with one word: fantastic!” says Joaquim Rita, who is the journalist who votes in Portugal for the Ballon d’Or and works for Cadena SIC. “The 20-21 season was very promising, I wasn’t always a starter, but this year it exploded. Today, without a doubt, he is the great figure of the League in Portugal and one of the best in the Champions League. I think it will not be possible to stay in Portugal after the end of the season. Will leave. Sure. Portuguese football will be small for the quality of Luis Díaz”, he anticipated a few months ago.
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His clause to leave Porto was €80 million, and his market value goes up and up (it is said that he left for 40 million euros plus bonuses). He was in the sights of several clubs, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Newcastle… Finally he was taken by the Liverpool.
A journalist who closely follows Porto is José Miguel Machado, from the newspaper Record, and was also surprised with Díaz. This he said in 2021: “he is considered, more or less unanimously, the best player in Portugal today. Game after game, in the League and in the Champions League, he puts in great performances and shows his ability to be decisive. We have to enjoy it while we can because the jump to a more prominent championship should be soon. It will be what he wants and he will play where he wants. the fc Porto will make a lot of money with him”.
Díaz continues in his flight, as if he were still floating and waiting for the ball that is falling to score a Chilean goal against Brazil. In the National Team, it stopped being an alternative a long time ago to become a lethal weapon, from the left, that lane where he starts to run or fly, like when he was a kid, only that he no longer goes by, but now slows down, cheats , outlines and takes a shot. Thus, with that street style, it is like Díaz, the one they called el Fideo, already has weight in Europe.
PAUL ROMERO
Editor of THE TIME@PabloRomeroET
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