Jurgen Klopp says the close-knit nature of the Liverpool squad helped Luis Diaz feel as comfortable as possible during the ordeal of his father’s kidnapping.
And the Reds boss admitted it “didn’t feel right” playing against Nottingham Forest just hours after Luis Manuel Diaz’s abduction was made known to the player and his team-mates at their team hotel last month. Diaz snr was kidnapped on Saturday October 28 along with his wife, Clienis Marulanda, in their homeland of Colombia by armed men on motorcycles with rebel group the National Liberation Army of Colombia (ELN) later found to be responsible.
Mrs Marulanda was found shaken but safe hours later but Mr Diaz remained with the kidnappers until Thursday when representatives of the Catholic Church and the United Nations were sent to gather him from a mountainous region between Colombia and Venezuela after successful negotiations between the government and his adductors.
Despite a horrifying few days for Diaz and his family, the 26-year-old declared himself ready to return last week at Luton Town and climbed off the substitutes’ bench to score in the 1-1 draw before he made his first start since the kidnapping in Thursday’s 3-2 defeat at Toulouse in the Europa League. Klopp revealed he found it tough to motivate his team in the immediate aftermath of the news last month prior to beating Forest 3-0 at Anfield but said the group tried to make proceedings feel as normal as possible for Diaz when he was at training and preparing for games.
“I don’t know how to describe it, it’s difficult in a different way,” Klopp said, speaking before Mr Diaz’s Thursday release. “I always know that there are more important things than football, I never forget that. It’s just that during the games, from time to time, you forget that but around that it is always clear. The priority is always clear.
“And so I’ve never had a situation like that. We’ve had different situations in life and family members who get ill or stuff like this. Over the years we have that from time to time and you don’t want that but you have to deal with it or even grandparents or passing die, you have that as well. “But this [was] a situation which ends in a specific moment and then we have to deal with it but this is different because it is ongoing and you never know. You want to help but you can’t help and that makes it really special.
“You are always afraid for his dad in this case and he is a friend of ours and that is the difference. But the only way I understand is that Lucho has to make the decision, Lucho has to tell me: ‘I want to train, I will do that’. I have never done that before for such a long time, at least, so it’s new but that is why we dealt with it like we did.
“I understand that we talk about it and that we worry but what else could it mean? It’s really not important. This group was very together before and at the moment it is just good that we are that [close] together and everyone is really caring.
