Liverpool striker Luis Diaz is pleading for his father to be released immediately.
Star striker Luis Diaz came on as a substitute and managed to finish as Liverpool drew 1–1 against Luton.
The fight was Diaz’s first since his parents were kidnapped in Colombia. His mother was soon found, but his father is still missing.
Diaz entered the field in the 83rd minute of the match. He scored the game-tying goal in the fifth minute of overtime and aired the hit by lifting his shirt. The undershirt read the text “freedom for father”.
After the fight, Diaz released a statement about his father.
– Every second, every minute, our anxiety grows. My mother, my brother and I are desperate, anxious. We have no words to describe what we feel. This suffering will only end when we bring him home to us, Diaz commented in his statement.
Diaz is pleading for the guerilla group that carried out the kidnapping to release her father immediately.
– In the name of love and compassion, we ask them to reconsider their actions, Diaz writes.
Diaz last played in a Liverpool shirt ten days ago. He dropped out of the lineup after learning of his parents’ abduction.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp justified Diaz’s return before the match by saying that the striker wanted to be part of the team.
Reuters reported on Friday last week that the Colombian guerrilla group ELN had promised to release Diaz’s father as soon as possible.
The ELN is the most significant remaining active guerrilla group in Colombia. It has been fighting the country’s government since 1964 and has an estimated 2,500 members.