Diogo Jota said “we are here” for Luis Diaz after he and his Liverpool teammates paid tribute to the Colombian by holding his shirt aloft after scoring the opener in the 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest.
Diaz’s parents were kidnapped by gunmen on motorbikes, national authorities have confirmed. His mother has been rescued but his father is still missing.
The former Porto winger was not included in the Liverpool squad to face Forest on Sunday but a shirt bearing his name and number was unveiled by Jurgen Klopp and handed to Jota after the Portugal international grabbed the first goal of the afternoon.
Jota told Liverpool’s club media: “It’s a situation we can’t even imagine if we [have not gone] through that same situation. All we can say is we are here for him and hopefully the things work out well in the end.”
Klopp added: “Yeah, so how can you make a football game really important on a day like this? It’s really difficult. I never struggled with that in my life. It was always my safe place, sometimes my hiding, as a player or as a coach, you are allowed during these 90 minutes just to focus on that and it was impossible. Absolutely impossible to do that.
“It was clear we have to give the game an extra sense and it was fighting for Lucho, then the boys put out the shirt and I was not 100 per cent prepared for that to be honest. It was really touching but wonderful as well. So, yeah, that’s it.”
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