Footballer Luis Díaz joyfully reunited with his father following a distressing kidnapping ordeal.

Colombian football star Luis Díaz has been reunited with his father, Luis Manuel Díaz, who was previously held hostage by rebels for 12 days. The emotional reunion between the Liverpool striker and his father brought tears to their eyes. The abduction of Luis Manuel Díaz by the National Liberation Army (ELN) sparked anger and outrage in Colombia and around the world. The ELN claimed responsibility for kidnapping the 58-year-old and his wife, Cilenis Marulanda, with the intention of demanding a ransom. Although the group released Marulanda when the police closed in, they kept Luis Manuel Díaz hostage and took him into the nearby mountains at gunpoint. The leader of the ELN described the coach's abduction as a "mistake" but stood by their belief that kidnappings for ransom did not violate the ceasefire they agreed to earlier this year. Luis Manuel Díaz was finally released by the guerrilla group last Thursday and was handed over to United Nations and Catholic Church officials. Once reunited with his wife and other family members, Luis Díaz, the footballer star, embraced his father for the first time since his release. Luis Díaz has now traveled to Colombia to join the national team for training ahead of their World Cup qualifier against Brazil on Thursday. During his father's captivity, he missed two Liverpool matches but recently made a comeback when he came off the bench in the English Premier League game against Luton on 5 November. After scoring a goal in stoppage time, Díaz displayed a T-shirt beneath his Liverpool jersey conveying the message "freedom for papa."