12 duels won: Liverpool wizard hailed as ‘a real star’ for his country after scintillating display | OneFootball

One Liverpool player was lauded as his country’s “real star” as he played a leading role in an impressive result for his nation.

Colombia took a step close to World Cup qualification as they drew 1-1 away to Argentina, with Luis Diaz breaking the deadlock midway through the first half with a sensational solo goal.

The Reds winger also left Atletico Madrid’s Rodrigo De Paul on his rear end with a majestic piece of skill as he caught the eye with a scintillating performance against the world champions, and the media in his homeland were effusive in their praise of the 28-year-old.

Colombian media in awe of Luis Diaz

Jenny Gamez of Futbol Red awarded the Liverpool wizard 8/10 in her post-match player ratings, describing Colombia as ‘Diaz and 10 others’ as he ‘tore through the world champions’ defence’ and was the ‘real star’ of the show for Los Cafeteros.

In a similar vein, Win Sports hailed him as the team’s ‘star’ and rated him at 8.5 out of 10.

In describing the 28-year-old’s goal against Argentina, AS writer Felipe Molina gushed that the forward ‘played like Maradona’ and ‘finished with class’, also noting that the Anfield hero leads the way with seven goals for his country in the World Cup qualifying campaign.

In addition, Diaz sent one Colombian TV commentator into hysterics when conjuring the strike which gave his team the lead in the 24th minute.

(Photo by Marcelo Endelli/Getty Images)

Will Diaz still be at Liverpool when the World Cup comes around?

Aside from his eye-catching goal, the Liverpool forward stood out with his performance across the 90 minutes in Buenos Aires.

As per Sofascore, he won a team-high 12 duels (more than twice as many as anyone else for Colombia), completed five dribbles (his teammates had one between them), made two tackles and one interception, played two key passes and created one ‘big chance’.

On top of the 17 goals that he plundered for the Reds in the 2024/25 season, it was a display which makes it all the more surprising that Anfield chiefs aren’t ‘massively keen’ to extend his contract (Ian Doyle), particularly with Al-Nassr reportedly contemplating an offer of around £72m for our number 7 (Ben Jacobs).

At least with two years still remaining on Diaz’s current deal, there’s still ample time for him and the Liverpool hierarchy to hopefully reach an agreement which’d keep him on Merseyside beyond 2027.

If nothing else, let’s hope he’s still in Arne Slot’s squad by the time that – as seems increasingly likely – he and Colombia are playing in the World Cup next summer.