the times | Saturday May 28 2022 1GG 5thegame
can never be questioned as a human
being. He was one of those young
people who can never be forgotten.
He gave us a lot of joy.Sebastian Viera
His captain at Junior FCI met “Lucho” in Junior at the first
training he had with the professional
team. He was a tall, skinny guy. When
he had the ball for the first time he
immediately attracted attention. He
surprised everyone in his first match
because he came in and handled the
one-on-one against the opponent in a
good way. He was very skilful, but he
did it so well that everyone was
surprised because here in Colombia it
is not easy to play like this in your
first match.
What I liked the most and what I
liked about him is that you never
knew what he was going to do. He is a
player who has incredible technique,
control and dominance of the ball at
very good speed.
He can also face you inside or
outside the pitch. He scores goals for
you with that display and elasticity
that not everyone does, and that
makes him a completely different
player from the others
There is something that is very
important about him: Luis plays well
on any pitch.
He doesn’t care if you play at home
or away; he doesn’t care if he plays
against the best team or the worst. It
is always the same. He does not
shrink with anything and goes head-
on with everything. What I remember
most is how he grew up, seeing his
progress and how he began to mature,
to change physically, but always being
a good person.
I always tried to advise him on the
personal side. In soccer, I didn’t have
to say anything to him because he has
always understood everything on the
field. But I always tried to tell him to
lead his life correctly; to organise
himself with a home; treat people
with respect; how to deal with money
and your finances. I instilled in him
the need to be clear about his
priorities, which he should have at
his age.
He is a person who listens a lot and
who knows how to listen to others.
He is humble to learn because he
understands that what the most
experienced people tell him is for his
own good.for him. We know that he is a person
who adapts very quickly because he is
friendly and sociable. He wins people
over with his way of being, with his
discipline, with his behaviour. Luis left
home at the age of 15, he is a very
disciplined, serious and responsible
person, that is why he has done well.
He has many blessings and he’s on
his way to being one of the best
players in the world.Julio Comesana
His Junior FC coachHe listened a lot and was attentive to
what was said to him. He spoke only a
little, only what was necessary, but he
quickly got along with his team-mates
and behaved like someone who is full
of courage, confidence and a
determination to succeed.
Quickly he showed that he had a
lot of skill in one-on-one situations
over long, medium and short distance.
His speed allowed him to decide
matches and he had the desire to face
his opponent, never giving up. He
always showed quick reactions to get
the ball back immediately when
it was lost.
We watched him carefully,
studying his talent and his
interpretation of the game. In
addition to his physical qualities, he
had a natural capacity for solving
problems. We let him do what he
wanted to build confidence. Luis has
always been lean, but we decided to
strengthen his upper body and
checked his diet. He gained a few
kilograms in weight and looked very
strong.
He was always a disciplined young
man, who did not ask for anything
and was focused on getting better
every single day.
It is difficult to choose
one match to highlight
Luis’s game because he
always gave everything.
We played the Copa
Sudamericana final in
2018 against Paranaense
and even in extra time
he played a
great game, not only
attacking but defending [Junior
lost on penalties].
It fills me with pride and
pleasure to see him at Liverpool.
In football there may be times
when the player is questioned
after a poor performance, but LuisLuis Manuel Díaz
His fatherSince he started crawling he liked to
play with what he saw. He hit
everything with his leg, for example
stones. My mum, Luis’s grandmother,
had some stones and she would roll
them for him.
When he was little, two or three
years old, he was very chubby. He had
an illness in his stomach, it gave him
sickness and he lost weight but he
recovered normally.
He was just a boy from the
indigenous population with a ball. He
had many difficulties, but always with
his mind set on reaching the top. We
don’t want to see ourselves as victims;
we went through difficult situations,
but today life shows us other ways out
thanks to football.
As he grew older, I took him to the
field where I was coaching, but I told
him he couldn’t play. He insisted and
though he was four and the other kids
were six and seven, he already had
many skills with the ball.
He would come home from school,
change from his school clothes and go
with me to train. After training, he
stayed to play until 9pm, sometimes it
was 10pm or 11pm. Some games
we were losing and I put him in to
win the game. He was such a tiny
thing and he danced around the
other boys.
He was very much a home body
and a dedicated boy. He preferred
playing a Ronaldinho video game, or
watching a game on television to
going out to parties or staying up late.
At the age of ten, he played in the
Metropolitano stadium (the home of
the Colombia national team) and his
progress was already being followed.
When he was 15, he was in the
Guajira regional team and I took a
call from Barranquilla FC.
When they took him to
Barranquilla for the first time, we sent
him money and we were able to
achieve his dream. We did activities,
raffles, to raise money and the whole
family helped him: his mother, his
uncles, the whole family.
Now Luis does many things for us.
We had many struggles and sacrifices,
but right now he is building a house
for when he comes home.
He grew as an athlete and a person
and at Porto he matured and made
the leap to Liverpool and a high-
performance league.
I cried when Liverpool won the FA
Cup because to win a trophy was a
dream he had always had. Every
time he achieves a triumph,
he always remembers my
mother. The only person
Luis paid attention to when we
asked him to stop playing soccer
was his grandmother. She spoilt
him a lot as a child.
He said that he wanted my
mum to see him win many
titles and that’s why those
tears came out.
Playing for
Liverpool is a
dream come trueLiverpool’s newest star by
those who know him best
Paul Joyce and Pipe
Sierra talk to those who
helped to turn Luis Díaz
into one of Europe’s
finest young players
Luis Manuel remembers his son showing skills from a young age — and says
that it was only the boy’s grandmother who could ever get him to stop playingCHARLIE CORDERO/EYEVINELSgreat game
dp
I
wthat position is him — that’s his role. But I feel
as though I’ve learnt that role where, if he’s not
there, I can perform it to a high level and I can
offer something different.” More passing, and
urgency going forward, as well his
communication skills and leadership.
As a No 8, Henderson brings another element.
“That link between me, Mo and Trent feels
natural,” he says. “We all complement each
other in that triangle really well, we all bring
something different. After games, we talk about
things that were good, what wasn’t so good. We
have a good relationship as a three.”
Henderson, who has played 448 times for
Liverpool and has 69 England caps, is famously
grounded but must have something that drives
him, even if some people still doubt his ability.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have an ego,” he
says. “Straight away people think of ego as
arrogance or over-confidence but everybody’s
got to have belief and confidence in themselves.
I’ve definitely got a bit of that. Maybe I could do
with a little bit more at times.
“You do need a bit of ego. But as a captain and
as the person I am, a lot of my energy goes into
the team and making sure that the environment
is a good one for everyone to perform.
“Confidence is a huge thing in football. It’s so
hard. That’s the golden ticket really. Sometimes
I look at the younger generation and they’re
oozing confidence constantly. It would have
been nice to have more of that along the way
but I am who I am.”
He is hugely respected within the game as
one of the most sporting competitors, and when
Liverpool overcame Chelsea on penalties to win
the FA Cup, Henderson went over to console
Mason Mount, who had missed his kick.
“I realised Mason had missed and I knew how
he would feel,” he says. “I never like penalties.
I’ve been on the losing end of penalties. I know
how it feels when you miss a penalty, and
Chelsea means a lot to Mason — a home-grown
lad, steps up, big penalty for him, and it will stay
with him. I just wanted to make sure that Mason
knows how good he is.
“He’s one of my team-mates [with England]. I
respect him, he’s a top player. He’s a fantastic
player, a great lad and at the minute it won’t feel
like it but that will make him stronger, and he’ll
make sure if that opportunity does come again,
he steps up and puts it away.”
Having lifted the League Cup and FA Cup
already this year, Henderson also took great joy
in Sunderland, his first club and love, gaining
promotion to the Championship via the play-
offs. “I was buzzing for them,” he says. “The fans
are amazing, always have been, really passionate
fans — very similar to Liverpool. They love
football. It’s what they live for, to go to the
games, watch the team play on a weekend. To
see them go up into the Championship will
mean an awful lot to the people. Hopefully
they can stay there next season and get
some stability within the club, which is
needed to try to get back into the
Premier League sooner rather than
later.” Dreams can come true.
Henderson knows that, and
he wants to add to his
flashback
collection in
Paris this
evening.
PETER WALTON ON
FINAL REFEREE
Clément Turpin, the
French official who will
take charge of tonight’s
Champions League final,
is a low-key referee. He’s
like a stealth bomber; he
doesn’t get in players’
faces and he gets his
point across without
being domineering.
Turpin was the fourth
official when Liverpool
and Real Madrid played
each other in the 2018
Champions League final,
so he has served his
apprenticeship. He also
has a steel about him
when necessary — he
gave out three red cards
in Porto’s ill-tempered
group-stage game
against Atletico Madrid
this season.
It’s a fantastic thrill for
a Frenchman to officiate
in the Champions League
final in Paris. He is the
first referee from France
to take charge of a
European Cup final since
1986, and that is mainly
down to how fierce the
competition is. Italy,
Spain, Germany and
England have produced
extremely good referees,
and it’s difficult for those
in less competitive
leagues to shine.
Uefa doesn’t have a
rule that says referees
can’t take charge of more
than one Champions
League final, but that is
convention. It is a special
achievement — when
Turpin hears the
Champions League
anthem, the hairs on the
back of his neck will
stand on end.Henderson is determined
to lift the Champions
League trophy again this
evening, after leading
Liverpool to glory in
Madrid three years agoPHOTOGRAPH:
BRADLEY
ORMESHER