- The Liverpool striker’s family celebrated his late goal against Luton
- After scoring, Luis Diaz unveiled a shirt calling for his father’s freedom
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Luis Diaz’s extended family emotionally celebrated the Liverpool striker’s equalizer against Luton on Sunday in the wake of the ongoing manhunt for his father.
Diaz scored the final goal in Liverpool’s Premier League match against Luton after being recalled by Jurgen Klopp for the trip to Kenilworth Road having recently returned to training.
The player celebrated his goal by showing off an undershirt with the words ‘Freedom For My Dad’ written on the garment in relation to the disappearance of Diaz’s father.
Diaz paid tribute to his kidnapped father with a moving message to his imprisoned parent and it appears his family in Colombia felt equally emotional when he scored for Liverpool.
In a short video showing the player’s grandparents’ home, a crowd of people inside the house can be seen celebrating after Diaz rose highest in the penalty area to bring Liverpool back on level terms.
Luis Diaz unveiled a shirt calling for his father’s freedom after scoring against Luton
Diaz’s (left) father Luis Manuel (right) has yet to be released by left-wing rebel group ELN – but the guerrilla group’s head is reported to have said they made a ‘mistake’ by detaining the father
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The small group sits focused around a television and you see them pumping their fists through the air and shouting before another member quickly closes the open window.
Earlier, the head of the rebel group that kidnapped the footballer’s parents admitted they had made a “mistake” by not freeing his father, Luis Manuel Diaz.
Uniformed soldiers are now working to secure the release of Diaz Snr and peace talks with the ELN continue.
Diaz previously missed Liverpool’s matches against Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth in response to the series of events.
The winger opted to return to training this week and was subsequently named on the bench for Sunday’s match, and his goal denied Luton a first home win of the season.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp tried to give his player a boost after the match, describing the ongoing situation as ‘quite emotional’, but revealed there were positive signs regarding the release of Diaz’s father.
Diaz rose highest in the penalty area to score the final goal of the match and deny Luton a first home win of the season
Klopp embraced Diaz full-time after bringing the Colombian winger back into the matchday squad
Klopp told Sky Sports: ‘It’s still quite emotional, but Luis decided three days ago that he wanted to try and train again. I said before: the training field and the football field are the safe place for the boys.
‘He can behave normally there, he can forget what’s going on for at least a few minutes, but all the signals he gets are, as far as I understand it, very positive.
“Negotiations are ongoing but it is positive and that is why he wanted to be part of the team. He was able to get back to work and therefore trained well.
‘From that point of view there are no problems, but no one can really imagine what something like that feels like. But on the training ground it was fine, on the pitch it was fine, so that’s why he’s here.”