Luis Díaz hails from Barrancas, La Guajira. It is a small, impoverished, neglected area in Colombia. He grew up malnourished, too. Whether this malnourishment was due to a disease or simply the result of poverty is unclear, but what is clear is that it severely hampered his ability to play the physical sport that is football.
The odds were stacked against Díaz from the start. In order to persevere, he learned to fight and work and give every single drop of effort he could.
UEFA were likely asking about
Díaz’s incredible work ethic and effort on the football in their interview when they queried the Bayern Munich player on his fighting spirit. Instead, the Colombian chose to take his answer in a very different direction.
“In Colombia, there aren’t many opportunities and you have to seek them out yourself. [Joining Atlético Junior’s youth team in 2014 aged 17], it was difficult to be away from my parents, my siblings, because we’re very close-knit and tight. There were moments when I really thought that was it,” Díaz admitted ahead of Bayern’s Champions League clash against Atalanta, as captured by @iMiaSanMia. “But those moments also reminded me that I had to fight to give my family a better life and get what I wanted, which was to play football professionally. When you’re tired or there is a day when you haven’t slept well, I try to remember what has happened in the past. I try to enjoy what is happening in the present. I try to keep fighting for my goals, for my dreams, for my milestones. I have achieved a lot, but I still have a lot to do.”
Those who fight the hardest are usually those with the greatest motivation and focus. Certainly, Díaz has learned how to focus that fight into every moment on the pitch and it is not hard to imagine he is able to do so off the pitch as well. Combine this with his unquenchable desire to achieve more and it seems that the story of Díaz the footballer is far from over yet.
