Luiz Diaz has spoken for the first time about his controversial disallowed goal against Tottenham Hotspur earlier this month.
At 0-0 and with the Reds a man down, Liverpool winger Diaz saw a goal ruled out following an unusually quick video assistant referee check by Darren England, in which the customary offside line graphic was not shown.
However, it later emerged that England mistakenly believed the on-field decision had been to award the goal, leading him to tell Simon Hooper, the referee, that the check was complete. The PGMOL admitted after the game that ‘a significant human error occurred’ and would later go on to release the audio recordings of the discussions between the match officials around the incident.
And now speaking for the first time about the decision, Diaz has admitted the ‘complicated’ call was a tough one to accept.
“The goal issue was a bit complicated,” he said during an interview with Colombian outlet El Heraldo.
“At the time, it hit me very hard, but not only to me but to all my teammates. In the middle of the game, we talked about it a lot, it was a positive result that was going to help us.
“These are things that happen; the referees are human. You have to take it easy, and for the next one, it will be.”
Diaz is currently away on international duty and is set to face Darwin Nunez when his Colombia side takes on Uruguay on Thursday night.
“May the best team win and things like that,” Diaz replied when asked about facing his Liverpool team-mate. “I wish [Darwin] the best always, he is a good friend and colleague. We have to get the result, which is what I want most”.
