Liverpool star Luis Diaz has been speaking about his absence from the World Cup in Qatar, after Colombia failed to qualify.
The £56,000-a-week man was unable to help his country make it through the CONMEBOL’s qualifiers, as Colombia finished sixth, one point behind Peru in the race for a play-off spot and three behind Ecuador’s automatic qualification spot.
Diaz scored three goals and provided one assist in Colombia’s 16 World Cup qualifiers, and he has now revealed his devastation at missing out on the tournament.
Liverpool star Luis Diaz devastated
Well, if we’re being harsh, the South American could’ve done better in terms of goal involvements across those qualifying matches, although it was not solely down to him.
Colombia are ranked 17th in the world, and with stars such as James Rodriguez, Juan Cuadrado and Luis Sinisterra also in their ranks, they really should’ve achieved qualification.
Speaking to Soho about Colombia’s absence from the World Cup, Diaz said: “It hurts. It hurts too much. It was the first World Cup that I was going to attend. Sometimes I would like to turn back time because I don’t believe it.”
Clearly, the Liverpool No.23 is heartbroken.
Blessing in disguise for Liverpool’s Luis Diaz?
As you may know, Diaz is currently out injured until late December with a knee injury, which he suffered in the 3-2 defeat to Arsenal.
Therefore, even if Colombia had qualified for the World Cup, he would not have been able to take part anyway.
In our view, seeing his teammates playing for their country at the World Cup without him would’ve been even more painful, so in some ways, perhaps it is a blessing in disguise for Diaz that Colombia failed to qualify.
Hopefully, the 25-year-old will get the opportunity to play for Colombia at the World Cup in 2026.
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