After just ten minutes of play in a Copa America group stage matchup against continental giant Brazil, Luis Diaz scored an incredible acrobatic volley.

In the second half of Colombia’s 2-1 victory over Paraguay on Monday, the iconic Liverpool winger wasted a few scoring opportunities, making his 2024 debut less than spectacular as former Merseyside star James Rodriguez took centre stage.

Diaz gave Colombia an early opportunity in the game with a fantastic play along the finish line. In the seventh minute, the left winger turned away from his defender, giving two Paraguayan players ample room to enter the area so he could curl a cross towards the back post. Daniel Munoz did, however, have a feeble header that went harmlessly out for a goal kick.

The 2022 Liverpool signee’s promising start was ruined when he barely finished three of his seven first-half passes and only managed one well-executed dribble. Rodriguez was the star of the show for Los Cafeteros, giving Colombia a 2-0 lead heading into the locker room with his well-placed crosses. Rodriguez left Everton in 2021 after just one terrible season.

 

Rodríguez’s preferred left foot was able to find space thanks to a clever move just past the 18-yard line, allowing him to get to Munoz at the back post. Munoz scored the winning header, drilling it low at the near post. Within ten minutes, Colombia increased their lead when Jefferson Lerma, a rising star in the Premier League, headed home Rodriguez’s free kick inside the far post.

Diaz had the opportunity to score his first goal at Copa America just as the second half was starting. The following set-piece attempt from Rodriguez was cleared as far as Diaz, who was standing in the penalty box, but the Liverpool winger’s volley attempt missed the Paraguay goal by a few feet.

 

The largely Colombian Houston audience became visibly restless after Paraguay trimmed the lead in half in the 69th minute. Diaz had two fantastic scoring opportunities as a result of the fluid play that followed. Diaz drove at the Paraguayan defenders in transition with twenty-five minutes left, setting Rodriguez up for a precise layoff on an overlapping run. The offensive midfielder was unmarked just past the six-yard line, but he chose to square the ball and miss the opportunity.

After an impressive shot fake that allowed him a similar distance shot on goal, Diaz attempted to tie the game himself a minute later. Sadly, the youthful winger stumbled and violently hit the side netting.

 

Diaz had a considerably stronger influence overall, with 10 completed passes in the second half—including a handful of line-breaking plays that he struggled to find in the opening 45 minutes—and one more successful dribble.

 

Thanks to a late scare from La Albirroja, Colombia began their Copa America campaign with three points despite only 0.63 expected goals on the night. Diaz and Colombia will face Costa Rica on FS1 on Friday at 6 p.m. ET.