Bogota, Nov 15 (EFE).- Liverpool winger Luis Diaz has reunited with his father, Luis Manuel Diaz, nearly two weeks after the latter’s release from kidnapping by National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas.
Diaz, who joined the Colombian national team for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Brazil and Paraguay, met his father on Tuesday in Barranquilla for the first time since his kidnapping from Colambia’s northern mining town of Barrancas on October 28.
In images published by the Colombian Football Federation (FCF), Diaz is seen hugging his father for the first time after being released on Thursday by ELN guerrillas on the foothills of the Perija mountain range along the border with Venezuela.
“Welcome home, Luchoooo! This was Lucho’s exciting meeting with his father, Mané Diaz, and his family. We love you, and we are more united than ever!” the FCF wrote on its X account.
In the photos, the 26-year-old excitedly greeted his father, who could not hold back his tears when he saw his family members.
The football player’s mother, Cilenis Marulanda, Colombian coach Néstor Lorenzo, and the president of the FCF, Ramon Jesurun, were among others on the scene.
The ELN handed senior Diaz over to a humanitarian commission formed by the United Nations Mission in Colombia and the Catholic Church, and he was then flown by helicopter to Valledupar, the region’s largest city. EFE
jga/am
