Luis Diaz expressed his delight after coming on as a goalkeeper in Colombia’s 3-0 win over Costa Rica at the 2024 Copa America.

The striker scored a penalty in the 31st minute to open the scoring for Arizona and put his country on track to secure a place in the quarter-finals.

Diaz will be hoping his goal is the first of many in the tournament as Colombia now look to secure top spot in Group D.

He told reporters after the match: “[I am] very, very happy because I managed to score again with the national team.

“We always know that strikers live with goals and [I am] very grateful to God for this opportunity and also to my partner for giving me confidence because we were talking about it. I thank God that I was able to score a very good goal.”

Colombia have the chance to clinch top spot in their section in the early hours of Wednesday when they take on Alisson Becker’s Brazil, who are currently in second place.

“We are always preparing to be number one, we are going for the win,” Diaz continued. “The possibility of being first, obviously, we are going for that. We are calm, we are preparing well step by step and always with a winning mentality.

“Obviously, it will be a very difficult game, but not impossible, and we know the rival we have in front of us and we have studied him. We’re going to come out with everything and, I hope, come away with these three points.”