If anyone gets Diaz, it's Obi Mikel: "I'm getting ready to take on Messi, and they held a gun to my dad's head"

The whole world is gutted these days for Liverpool winger Luis Diaz, whose father was kidnapped in Colombia.

If anyone out there knows exactly how Diaz is feeling right now, it must be John Obi Mikel. The former Nigeria and Chelsea midfielder opened up about the heartbreaking time his father was kidnapped in 2018, just hours before playing the biggest match of his career.

Mikel's dad, Pa Michael Obi, was held captive on the eve of Nigeria's clash with Argentina at the World Cup in Russia.

It was the second time he had been kidnapped after the first such thing in 2011 when he was imprisoned for ten days.

"Two hours before the game, I got a phone call from my brother saying that my dad had been kidnapped for the second time in Nigeria. That was absolutely shocking. The first time was shocking, but the second time was even more because I was about to go into one of the biggest games of my life.

"Just knowing that my dad has been kidnapped again was absolutely heartbreaking. I couldn't leave the room. I couldn't tell anybody. I was alone in the room for about 30 minutes, thinking what am I going to do? Shall I tell the manager? Shall I say to my teammates? Or should I make an announcement?

"So I thought about it. I was like, okay, you know what? I'm going to keep quiet. I called my mum and my brothers, everybody was crying on the phone. They were saying, no, you shouldn't go out and play because you're not going to be able to perform well. I took time on my own, and I decided that I'm going to go out there and perform. I'm going to go out there and play.

"So I didn't tell anybody. I went on the pitch, and I played. Sadly, we didn't win the game, and then after that, I told everybody. In the dressing room, the manager and some of the players were almost in tears. They were saying you should have told us, and you shouldn't have played."

Mikel revealed Chelsea's Russian owner, Roman Abramovich, offered support to him at the time and praised Liverpool's response to the current situation with Diaz.

"Chelsea were very supportive," the former midfielder added. "I remember Roman [Abramovich] saying, do you want me to send people over? Because I know if I send people over, I can get your dad out. I was like, how are you going to do this?

"He said don't worry about that. Just let me, if you want that option, I can do it.

"And I'm happy to see that Liverpool are very supportive. I must give credit to Liverpool for what they're doing."

The former Chelsea star continued and said he could relate to Luis Diaz and what he's going through. This kind of situation is where you absolutely have nothing to do...

"You just have to wait because they will call you. They will demand for this and they will demand for that. They will say if you don't do what we want, we're going to shoot your dad. We're going to kill him.

"I had my dad on the phone crying on the phone and saying can you give them what they want because I've been beaten up here, and they've got a gun on my head every time saying they're going to kill me.

"I managed to pay lots of money to get my dad released."

Major military and police search underway for Luis Diaz's father

Luckily for Mikel, his father was released and he is fine now, but he had a message of support he wanted to give to the Liverpool star.

"I know exactly what you're going through, and I hope you stay strong. I know it's a tough time for you as a player. I know what your family is going through as well," concluded Obi Mikel.