Colombia teammates rally to support underfire Liverpool ace Diaz

Colombia teammates have rejected criticism of Liverpool ace Luis Diaz.

It's been suggested Diaz fails to perform for his country as he does for his club. The winger missed a penalty in Colombia's 0-0 draw with Ecuador.

But Galatasaray defender Davinson Sanchez, formerly of Tottenham, said: "There is no need to hide anything.

"Lucho has been doing very important things in England, I suffered a lot when I was at Tottenham, but one way or another it is to take away that pressure that has indirectly been put on him.

"He is a decisive player for us, but we want him to go back to being that Luis Diaz with freedom, with the desire as he does there in Liverpool.

"The idea was that he could score and take off that pressure a little bit. And, although unfortunately that did not come, we will continue working to ensure that he continues to be decisive."

Colombia great James Rodriguez also said: We had the penalty and it can be missed, all good players fail."