At house, indicators of Diaz’s triumphant march are provide on each and every wall, from a chain of cups and trophies in the lounge to a full-size cardboard determine of the winger in motion.
Outdoor, there’s graffiti of the prodigal son dressed in the Colombian nationwide group jersey to snatch the eye of passersby, whilst the shields of his golf equipment are painted at the facet.
Diaz’s talent to handle shut keep watch over of the ball whilst working at blistering tempo temporarily made him probably the most admired gamers in Europe.
Frequently slicing in off the left wing onto his more potent proper foot, Diaz’s methodology and completing imply he’s at all times a risk in entrance of objective — however he additionally has the imaginative and prescient and ability to select a cross.
“To be fair, for the circle of relatives and all of the neighborhood, we nonetheless have not learned in all probability the expansion he had,” Robert Fernandez, one among Diaz’s former coaches, instructed CNN.
“It was once so fast: he performed one season at Barranquilla FC, then two seasons at Junior as champion and vice champion of the Sudamericana.
“[He] is going to Porto and wins the entirety that there’s to win there, is going to Liverpool for part a season and he has simply received any other [trophy].
“This Saturday he performs the Champions (League ultimate) towards Actual, as you do … I imply for us it is nonetheless inexplicable.”
All through suits, all of the circle of relatives joins in combination to apply Diaz’s each and every transfer on tv. Buddies and neighbors, maximum of whom seek advice from Diaz with an array of nicknames referencing his wiry body, comparable to “noodles” or “thin,” additionally swing by means of.
Anyone might recreation an unique jersey signed by means of the champion, however for many, a easy purple t-shirt will do.
Any time Diaz will get the ball — irrespective of his place at the pitch — a flurry of ‘gasps’ and ‘hee!’ erupt.
Right here, everybody has a tale concerning the champion: somebody recollects he used to play in turn flops, others witnessed him scoring 17 objectives in a single fit towards the group from the nearest the town.
Diaz’s father — Luis Manuel — was once the primary trainer and his son’s greatest supporter. A soccer fanatic and beginner participant, he used to coach groups from the native coal mine after the miners’ shifts and would convey his sons to look at and be informed.
After Luis Fernando, two extra sons have turn out to be soccer gamers.
Barrancas is an ordinary rural the town within the Colombian nation-state. The encircling area, L. a. Guajira, is likely one of the poorest within the nation, wedged between the ocean, the wasteland and the mountains that mark the border with Venezuela.
L. a. Guajira suffers from a prolonged loss of activity alternatives. In Barrancas, the biggest activity supplier is identical mine the place Diaz’s father taught soccer. It is known as Cerrejon — the massive hill — and is the biggest open-pit coal mine in South The usa.
Thrice an afternoon, teams of miners from the encompassing cities soar on buses and input the mine.
It is a dry, infected global. Now not a very easy position to develop up in, let on my own to turn out to be a qualified athlete. Masses of kids from the Wayuu indigenous other folks reside right here, settling within the house since earlier than the arriving of the Conquistadores.
Diaz himself has Wayuu heritage and, whilst his circle of relatives says they by no means confronted excessive poverty, a charity to assist native youngsters succeed in higher alternatives has already been arrange.
It is run by means of Diaz’s cousin, Jose Brito, who holds a technical stage as a mining engineer, however stated he was once fortunate sufficient to keep away from the coal pit by means of operating for his cousin.
Diaz nonetheless returns to Barrancas as frequently as he can, Fernandez says — and now not a lot has modified since his days right here as a boy.
“Each time he comes again right here, one of the vital issues he asks is to play along with his shut buddies, those that performed with him at Cluballer FC, the native membership right here in Barrancas,” he says.
“The ultimate time he came around simply after the Copa The usa, even his dad performed, then the cousins, buddies, neighbors, former teammates.
“I coached a group and any other buddy coached the opposite one. Who received? Who do you assume, after all he received, he destroyed the opposite group. We received 5 nil.”
Large plans are being drawn up as Diaz’s profession has helped supply a catalyst for political and financial strengthen. The Colombian sports activities ministry helps Diaz’s basis supply coaches and bodily schooling lecturers.
The circle of relatives desires to construct a brand new facility with pitches, gyms, and school rooms on a patch of land out of doors the town middle.
Brito believes the mining the town, which furnished Colombia’s coal for era, may just quickly get started turning out a brand new era of soccer gamers impressed by means of his cousin’s profession.
At the day Liverpool received the FA Cup after beating Chelsea on consequences — a fixture the place Diaz was once awarded Guy of the Fit — his grandfather introduced a firecracker in opposition to the sky.
New sparks to illuminate the similar pitch the place his grandson took his first steps in a exceptional soccer adventure.
