After it was confirmed that Luis Diaz’s mother has since been rescued from the hands of kidnappers in Colombia, well wishes from around a shocked footballing world flooded in, as Jurgen Klopp said preparing for the game at the weekend was “the most difficult” in his life.
Diaz was missing from Liverpool’s match against Nottingham Forest at the weekend after returning home as the search continues for his father. Speaking after the match, Klopp revealed the impact of the match.
He said: “Preparing for the game had been the most difficult I’ve ever had in my life.
“I didn’t expect that; I wasn’t prepared for it.
“I don’t want to make the game bigger than it was, but definitely, we tried to help Luis with the fight we put in because, obviously, we want to help, and we cannot really help.
“So the only thing we can do is fight for him, and that’s what the boys did.”
The authorities in Colombia have since stepped up their search, and the Colombia Football Federation (FCF) has issued a statement demanding the release of his father immediately.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino sent his best wishes on behalf of the global football community and FIFA with a post on Instagram. Liverpool are doing as much as they can to support the winger, too.
Klopp went on to add: “How can you make a football game really important on a day like this? It’s really difficult.
“I’ve never struggled with that in my life.
“We heard late last night about it. We spoke to Luis; he wanted to go home…Then we got the news with his mum, which is fantastic, and since then, nothing really.
“We are obviously the first people to get involved
“We try to have knowledge of everything as much as we can, but we don’t want to disturb in any way the important people there; we just want to support, that’s it.”
