“FROM STARVATION TO THE WORLD CUP…” Luis Díaz’s Astonishing Rags-to-Riches Journey From a Mud Shack With No Electricity to Football’s Biggest Stage Leaves Fans Emotional and Inspired! Luis Díaz’s rise from extreme poverty in rural Colombia to the World Cup is being hailed as one of football’s most powerful stories.

LUIZ DIAZ’S journey to his first ever World Cup is football’s ultimate rags to riches story.

There is simply no tale quite like it after the ex-Liverpool ace overcame incredible odds to make it to the top of the sport.

7

 

7

The Bayern Munich star – who reportedly banks £12million a year in Germany – will lead Colombia in their World Cup opener against Uzbekistan on Thursday.

And he’ll be reminded of the remarkable journey he’s been on after growing up the neglected village of Barrancas.

Almost half of the population are from the Wayuu indigenous community and Diaz’s family home was made from mud and wood.

There was no electricity or clean drinking water and Diaz often had to help his dad sells goats and juice on the street to keep their family afloat.

One of his only joys was playing football barefoot on rocky dirt pitches.

His dad was in charge of a local football academy for youngster and Diaz usually dazzled with his footwork, skills and speed.

But he had a very thin frame in his youth due to years of malnutrition and lacked any real physicality.

Diaz, who was known as ‘Lucho’, didn’t have access to proper consistent food and was left severely malnourished.

Thousands of children from his region have tragically died from starvation in recent decades and Diaz can count himself lucky to be alive.

And when it came to being noticed by potential football scouts, Diaz struggled and was even overlooked by some due to his build.

His big break came when he was called up to play for Colombia in the Copa America of Indigenous People.

But his manager John ‘Pocillo’ Diaz was concerned at how frail Diaz was and claimed he lost most of his 50/50s.

He told the BBC in 2022: “Lucho would ask us if he could have the same meal more than once. He was this humble.

“For a moment, we thought it would be very difficult for him to perform because Lucho seemed to have malnutrition problems – he was very skinny and lost the duels with other players.

7

 

Diaz still stood and and made the final 26-man squad out of 400 hopefuls.

At the tournament, he was spotted by the legendary Carlos Valderrama after Diaz led his team to the final with two goals.

Valderrama recommended him to his old club Atletico Junior FC, who snapped him up at the age of 18.

Junior youth team boss Fernel Diaz claimed his lack of strength caused concern among staff.

He told Sky Sports: “Many were telling me to give up on him, but that wasn’t an option for me. Not with the ability he had.”

Youth director Octavio Rivera admitted Diaz was “very thin” but insisted he had “abnormal levels of stamina and energy” as well as top dribbling ability and speed.

At the same time, Colombia Under-20 doctors advised manager Carlos Restrepo not to call him up because of doubts over his physical condition.

7

 

7

So Junior sent him to sister club Barranquilla to help him bulk up with weight-gain supplements while allowing him to develop in the Colombian second tier.

After returning to the first team the following year after putting on 10kg, he then fired them to the Colombian top flight title in 2018.

He would net 20 times in 106 appearances for Junior before FC Porto came calling in 2019.

With his career in full flow, he continued to impress with 41 strikes in 125 outings, helping the Portuguese side win two league titles and the Portuguese cup.

When he sealed a £37.5m move to footballing giants Liverpool, he had truly hit the big time.

He was an immediate hit under boss Jurgen Klopp as he fired in six goals and four goals in the 2021-22 season, having only arrived in January.

7

 

7

SunSport spoke exclusively to Wayuu tribe spokesman Javier Rojas Uriana at the time, who couldn’t hide his pride in how far Diaz had come.

He said: “Luis is the living example of the resilience and strength of us as an ancestral people.

“Seeing one of us reach so high, through his own merit and effort, and overcome the barriers that life has put up for us, swells our hearts. We feel extremely proud.

“Growing up in the midst of hunger and thirst is not easy. Having the possibility to beat this situation without ‘selling our souls to the devil’ – few of us can do it.

“Luis is of the utmost importance in raising awareness of the problems the Wayuu face, as he and his family have experienced first-hand the rigours of inequality, discrimination and abandonment.”

There were more hardships for Diaz later in life, however, as his father Luis Manuel was kidnapped by left-wing guerillas just one year into his stint at Liverpool.

He was eventually released unharmed after 13 days,