Liverpool’s Luis Díaz Finally Reunites With His Father

Liverpool forward Luis Díaz has reunited with his father, Luis Manuel Díaz, who spent nearly a month in Kidnappers’ den between October and November 2023.

Luis Díaz who flew to his home country, Colombia, for the international break, and his father sobbed as they gave each other their first hug, after the ordeal of the kidnapping.

The kidnapping of Luis Díaz’s father by the National Liberation Army (ELN) forced the player to miss two Liverpool matches. But on November 5, he came off the bench to start the English Premier League match against Luton.

Recall that the 58-year-old Colombian amateur coach and his wife were kidnapped by the ELN and held captive for ransom in October.

They released his wife, Cilenis Marulanda, but forced him into the neighboring mountains at gunpoint. Afterward, the leader of the ELN called the kidnapping a “mistake” and insisted that kidnappings carried out for ransom do not violate the ceasefire agreement that the group had with the Colombian government earlier this year.

Last Thursday, the guerrilla group released Luis Diaz’s father to representatives of the United Nations and the Catholic Church.

He hadn’t been able to give his football-star an embrace until today, but he was reunited with his wife and other family members later that day.

Luis Díaz has flown in to train with the national team ahead of their World Cup qualifying match against Brazil on Thursday night in Colombia.