Luis Díaz #7

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Anyone who watches the strong and combative Díaz play for Bayern would not think that he was once placed on a special diet in order to put on 10kg. That was at Barranquilla FC, a feeder club for Atlético Junior, where he came recommended by the legendary Carlos Valderrama. ‘El Pibe’ spotted him playing for Colombia at a Copa América for indigenous communities in 2015, where John Jairo Díaz was the coach. “Valderrama was practically my boss,” the coach said. “He would say: ‘That skinny kid is going to play, he’ll make it as a pro’. And look what happened.” Díaz’s father, Mane, was another key person in his career. Mane’s kidnapping by armed guerrillas on the Colombian-Venezuelan border, and safe return, made headline news around the world in 2023 when Díaz was playing for Liverpool, where he won the Premier League, an FA Cup and two League Cups.

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