Luis Diaz shares heartfelt hug with Liverpool team-mate Alisson after scoring twice against him for Colombia to beat Brazil, with winger starring in front of his emotional father following kidnap ordeal

These images speak thousands of words. These photos speak of the relief after twelve days of unimaginable trauma and emphasize that the unifying sport of football is more than a game.

Luis Diaz scored twice in the early hours of Friday morning to give Colombia only their second win over Brazil since 1991. In the stands in Barranquilla, his father, who was kidnapped and held hostage for almost two weeks, could barely contain his joy. pride and relief.

Back on the pitch, Diaz’s close friend, but opponent on the evening, Alisson, the Liverpool and Brazil goalkeeper, approached the Colombian and invited him into a warm and longing embrace that belied the rivalry between the two South American countries .

Diaz, who rested his head on Alisson’s shoulder during the hug, later said: “Alisson told me he is very happy because he knows what we went through. He’s a great person, I admire him so much, he’s a great human being. He gave me all his support to remain calm in those difficult moments.’

But most eyes were on the rest of the Diaz family, reunited after a horrific ordeal that saw the players’ parents kidnapped at gunpoint. Diaz’s mother, Cilenis Marulanda, was quickly found in what was described as a “padlock operation” that saw roads closed and checkpoints set up.

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The kidnappers detained his father, Luis senior, with a massive police operation that then began using helicopters and infrared heat seekers. It was feared he had been smuggled into Venezuela through dense jungle, meaning he would have been beyond the reach of Colombian police.

But he was safely located hours before Liverpool’s defeat to Toulouse last week, which Diaz started. The player had scored for the Reds at Luton, but his two goals for Colombia felt seismic in comparison.

His father fell to the ground in celebration, with both hands raised, looking up at the sky. On the pitch, his son fought back tears as teammates congratulated him on his famous brace.

“Life makes you strong and courageous and I think that’s football, and not just football, but life,” Diaz said. ‘I am grateful to my teammates and the coaching staff who were always there for me at any time. And I dedicate the victory to the people.

“I’m full of love because my family was there. I thought about my father. He always had the mentality and the belief. I want to dedicate this triumph to him.’

The uncertainty surrounding the safety of Diaz’s father is likely to have hit the Brazilian stopper harder than most, following the tragic death of his own father in 2021. Jose Agostinho Becker drowned in a lake on the family’s farm near the city Lavras do Sul. southern Brazil.

Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli scored for Brazil in the defeat.

It was also a good night for Diaz’s Liverpool teammate Darwin Nunez, who scored as Uruguay defeated world champions Argentina. Marcelo Bielsa’s team have now defeated both Brazil and Argentina in the same year for the first time since 1960.