Liverpool star Luis Diaz was not to blame his penalty miss for Colombia in the international break as he shouldn’t have been taking it anyway.
That’s according to Fabián Vargas, ‘Tino’ Asprilla and Víctor Aristizábal, who believe the Liverpool winger was let down by a lack of leadership in the Colombian squad.
Diaz was a part of the Colombia squad for this international break, playing in the clashes against Uruguay and Ecuador.
It proved to be a frustrating break for him as his side had to settle for a point in both games and he failed to score or assist, extending a dry spell for his country to four games.
He had the chance to change that, though, when he stepped up to take a penalty in the draw with Ecuador but missed the subsequent spot kick.
It’s led to plenty of criticism for the forward, who is not at his best at this moment in time for club and country and struggling to replicate the kind of form that had made him key for both.
As far as the trio are concerned, though, the Liverpool man is not to blame for the incident, as he shouldn’t have been taking the spot kick anyway.
“As captain and as a leader of the team, what James tried to do was give Diaz confidence,” said Vargas.
“I interpret that Borré caught the ball and James passed the ball to Luis Díaz, I don’t know if as a captain and leader, trying to give him confidence. If Luis Díaz told him that he was ready to kick it was because he was ready.”
“In the Colombian National Team, the penalties were kicked by Falcao, then by James and then Cuadrado. Neither Falcao nor Cuadrado are there, it was James’ turn,” argued Asprilla.
“They agreed with me, the players went over the coach,” added Aristizábal.
“They decided on the field who was kicking. Normally the senior player is above. In this case James Rodríguez had been able to say, I’ll hit it and that’s it.”
