BARRANQUILLA, Colombia (AP) 鈥� experienced the 鈥渕agic鈥� of the FA Cup when he played for Liverpool. What he saw from his former teams in Colombia was something else altogether.
Diaz was on hand at Romelio Mart铆nez Stadium to witness one of the most stunning domestic cup upsets in recent memory in .
Powerhouse club Junior was knocked out of the Copa Colombia by its own second-division affiliate, Barranquilla FC, which prevailed 5-3 in a penalty shootout Wednesday night.
Watching the drama unfold from the stands was D铆az, the 29-year-old Colombia star who plays at Bayern Munich. The former Liverpool forward launched his career with Barranquilla before earning promotion to Junior in 2017 and eventually making the leap to Europe with Porto.
鈥淲hat happened is embarrassing,鈥� said Yimmi Char谩, one of Junior鈥檚 key players. 鈥淲e knew they would make it difficult, but we failed to secure the result.鈥�
Barranquilla will next face powerhouse Millonarios in the next round. Like in the FA Cup 鈥� in which lower-division teams get a chance to beat the big-name teams 鈥� there could be more surprises to come.
鈥淭hese are lads we know well 鈥� some of them were even in our squad last year,鈥� Junior coach Alfredo Arias said 鈥淚f anyone had to eliminate us, I鈥檓 glad it was Barranquilla. I hope they go as far as possible.鈥�
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