It was a busy night of action for Liverpool’s internationals, with Luis Diaz superbly finding the net, while Alisson kept another clean sheet for Brazil.
The March international break is up and running and five Reds were in action for their respective countries, with all ending the night with a valuable victory.
While Neco Williams‘ Wales and Diogo Jota‘s Portugal moved one win away from a place at the World Cup, Diaz was attempting to keep Colombia’s faint hopes of reaching Qatar alive.
Their only route is through the inter-confederation playoffs, which requires a fifth-placed finish in the South American standings.
They have now given themselves at least a chance of doing just that thanks to a 3-0 win over Bolivia but will need a favour elsewhere and another win of their own next week to be in with a shot.
? @LFC's Luis Díaz with a stunning curler for his 8th goal for his country!
Colombia are still fighting for World Cup qualification ?? pic.twitter.com/O0IzYrq2qV
— FreeSports ? (@FreeSports_TV) March 25, 2022
As for Thursday’s clash, Diaz was responsible for not only putting Colombia on the path to a valuable victory but also for ending a goal drought that stretched seven qualifiers, or 685 minutes across 196 days.
And he did it in an eyecatching fashion that started with another sumptuous first touch on the left wing before he cut inside and released a stunning curling effort into the bottom corner.
A player brimming with confidence and one that celebrated in style alongside James Rodriguez – and the celebrations continued as Miguel Borja and Mateus Uribe each added a goal of their own.
Diaz played 84 minutes as focus turned to rest and recovery with Colombia now needing a win over Venezuela on Tuesday and for Peru to either draw or fall to defeat against Paraguay.
And while Diaz was etching his name on the scoresheet, Alisson added another clean sheet to his name more than 7,500 kilometres away as Brazil cruised to a 4-0 win over Chile.
Liverpool’s No. 1 was named in Tite’s XI but Fabinho settled for a place on the bench before being turned to for the final eight minutes with the scoreboard reading 3-0.
Alisson had little trouble in goal as Brazil dominated, with Neymar — from the penalty spot — Vinicius Jr, Philippe Coutinho and Richarlison all on the scoresheet to extend their undefeated run in qualifiers to 16.
Reds will be content to see that Fabinho was given a chance to put his feet up after seven starts in Liverpool’s last eight games, but that could change when Brazil meet Bolivia in five days’ time.
