Luis Diaz showed some of his true ability as he set up Colombia’s winning goal to beat Spain 1-0 at the West Ham Stadium, sparking wild celebrations in the stands.
Liverpool’s No. 7 has simultaneously bewitched and frustrated at times this season but, for Colombia, he showed his class with a brilliant assist for Daniel Munoz’s 61st minute goal, against Spain.
Friday night saw Colombia take on the Spaniards in an international friendly at West Ham‘s London Stadium, and though it was a friendly, the level of passion on display after the winner was striking.
In the 61st minute, the former Real Madrid and Everton player, James Rodriguez, played the ball down the left for Diaz to chase.
The Liverpool man beat Athletic Bilbao’s Dani Vivian to the ball using his speed and strength, before sizing the defender up and turning him inside out.
With Vivian left looking a little bit silly, Diaz proceeded to loft the ball to the back post area, where Munoz slid in to finish past goalkeeper David Raya.
Despite the match being a friendly, the Colombia supporters in attendance went absolutely wild at the London Stadium, and it looked like the players enjoyed the moment too.
Colombia then held out until full time, with Diaz playing the full 90 minutes, something Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp might not have been too pleased about.
Thankfully, there was no sign of the groin problem that Klopp spoke of after the Reds’ 4-3 defeat at Man United but, even so, Liverpool would have hoped for Diaz to be used sparingly in this international break.
This season, only Virgil van Dijk has played more minutes for the Reds, with Diaz making 39 Liverpool appearances already this campaign.
In that time he hasn’t always been the star of the show, but recent performances have shown Diaz is back on the way to his best form.
The winger has scored 11 goals and provided five assists for Liverpool this season, and it feels as though he is close to reaching the next level – he just needs better end product.
