Luis Suarez is one of the most controversial figures on the pitch. The Uruguayan striker is very talented but also extremely cunning and sometimes has crazy uncontrolled actions. Therefore, many people love and also many people hate the 36-year-old. But if you know about Suarez’s love story and journey up, everyone must look up to this monster.
Luis Suarez was born on January 24, 1987 in Salto, a small town 500km north of Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. He is the second child in a poor working family, with a total of 7 siblings. His mother, Sandra, worked as a babysitter, and his father, Mr. Rodolfo, was a janitor, whose jobs brought only meager wages.
The boy picked up the bottle
So, at the age of seven, Suarez and his family moved to the bustling city of Montevideo in search of a better life. For Suarez himself, it was on the dusty streets of this city that he developed his unique and South American playing skills.
“I grew up in poverty, it’s true,” admitted Suarez. “I was born into a large and poor family. We have to make a lot of sacrifices to ensure a normal life. When I was seven, I moved to Montevideo, where my football career started. It was the first big change in my life, and since then I have faced many more events.”
One of the most significant events, was the divorce of his parents, the trouble of Suarez’s family made it even more difficult, the rabbit-toothed boy at the age of 9 began to rush to the street for a living by picking up bottles. However, the passion for playing football in Suarez never stops. Recalling his childhood memories with the ball, he said: “I started playing football at a very young age and by the age of four, compared to without the ball, I would run faster if the ball was in my foot.”
At the age of 11, Suarez was called up to the national youth training camp in La Plata, Argentina, but he was forced to turn down the request because his family was too poor to meet the costs. “My dream came true but it was too expensive and I had to turn it down. I can’t even afford a pair of shoes,” he said.
It was not until the age of 14 that Suarez started playing football seriously when he was selected by Nacional de Montevideo, the most traditional team of Uruguayan football. Here, the striker made visible progress and quickly passed the youth team ranks.
But because of that, Suarez was born with complacency. Fortunately for him and for Uruguayan football, the teachers at Nacional soon discovered and the club’s prodigy returned to the development track. It was one time Suarez was caught partying and drinking until the morning, the youth team coach immediately gave him an ultimatum: “Either you train as a teammate or you never get selected”.
Suarez woke up and plunged into training. At the age of 16, he was promoted to the first team and on 3 May 2005, he made his Nacional debut against Junior de Barraanquilla in Libertadores. Suarez continued to leave a strong mark with 12 goals in 29 appearances when Nacional won the 2006 national championship.
The most adorable boy in the world
Despite the joy of winning the first title of his career, there is still something missing in Suarez’s life. That emptiness is named after Sofia, the girlfriend and now the wife of the star who is wearing the Barcelona shirt. The two met when Suarez was 15 and Sofia was 12 years old. Love is like breaking a blind heart, since the day he met Sofia, Suarez has lived more responsibly and worked harder on the pitch to be worthy of his girlfriend, who is the lady of the radio station.
But the new love soon broke up because Sofia’s family moved to Barcelona. Remember, Barcelona, Spain, halfway around the world from Uruguay. The only way for Suarez to reunite with his lover is to play football very well to find the opportunity to go to Europe to play. Remember, at that time, Suarez was just an unknown young player with a salary not enough to buy a tenth of a plane ticket to Catalonia.
Looking back on the most turbulent years of his life, the striker shared: “I was born in a poor and unhappy family because my parents divorced. So I spend a lot of time playing with my friends. I couldn’t focus on my family and myself. When I was 15 years old, I had a girlfriend and started looking back. I realized how important football is to me. But when Sofia went to Spain, I was depressed again. That was a big mistake. Fortunately, I realized in time that it was necessary to focus on this beautiful sport.”
With extraordinary talent and effort, that opportunity quickly came. After the championship with Nacional, a number of European teams began to notice Suarez and Groningen were the fastest, signing the 19-year-old Uruguayan striker for a transfer fee of 800,000 euros. Later on, Suarez also signed many contracts worth many times more than 800,000 euros, but that number opened both career and love for the Uruguayan striker, the biggest turning point in his life.
“My happiness (after being crowned with Nacional) is not complete,” Suarez said. “Sofia and I loved each other even though we were apart for a year. Despite this, we still love each other passionately and are determined to hold on to each other. So when I received an offer to go to Europe to play football, I nodded immediately. The only thing I think about is being with Sofia again. That’s how I started my European adventure.”
Joining Barca, Suarez’s roadmap
Suarez arrived in Groningen, Netherlands, a strange place when he was less than 20 years old, culture and language were huge barriers, even to adapt, the Uruguayan striker had to start from the reserve team. But in return, Suarez gets to be near the girl of his life. Moreover, the presence of compatriot Bruno Silva in Groningen also helped Suarez quickly settle down and soon prove himself a great bargain.
Suarez scored on his European debut against Partizan Belgrade and formed a good connection with Erik Nevland, a former Manchester United player and attacking partner. On the other hand, Suarez’s eagerness to learn Dutch has earned him the love of his teammates and fans.
“I have always made it clear that I will never give up and look for more opportunities to prove myself,” he said. “I train hard, fight non-stop. It’s hard to believe I’m playing for a team in the Dutch first division. When I look back, I think of all the friends that grew up around me, the fields and streets of Montevideo where I used to play, and I can’t hide how proud I am of what I have achieved. Okay”.
In his first season in Europe, Suarez scored 17 goals in 37 appearances and Groningen finished eighth in the Dutch league table. Suarez’s progress was also noted at home and on 8 February 2007, he made his debut for the Uruguay national team, in a 3–1 win over Colombia. However, it was a sad memory for Suarez, when he was sent off at the end of the game.
At the club level, after only one season at Groningen, Suarez moved to Ajax Amsterdam, the most traditional team in Dutch football, for a transfer fee of 7.5 million euros. He has been with Ajax for 4 years, scoring 111 goals in 159 matches and being trusted with the captaincy.
In 2009, when their careers gradually stabilized, Suarez and Sofia got married in the Netherlands, now more than 10 years have passed and they have 3 children together. However, Suarez’s journey does not stop there, his ultimate goal is to come to play football in the city where Sofia’s family lives, Barcelona.
To achieve that ultimate goal, Suarez circled the port city of Liverpool, wore the Red Brigade shirt for 4 years and established his name as one of the best strikers in the Premier League and the world. 82 goals, 52 assists in 133 matches in all competitions for The Kop are numbers that speak for Suarez’s class.
Because of Suarez’s boom, Barca accepted to spend a huge amount of 82.3 million euros to recruit, thereby perfecting the attack with the famous trio MSN (Messi-Suarez-Neymar). The success of Suarez in particular and this trio in general, probably needs no further emphasis. Just know that, the day he left Liverpool to go to Barca, Suarez was satisfied. “Liverpool did everything they could to keep me here, but playing football and living in Spain, where my wife’s family lives, has been my lifelong dream and ambition. I believe now is the time,” he said.
Football style
Suarez’s way of playing football has tricks and instincts that make him an unpleasant person in the eyes of many people. But turning the matter around, there aren’t many players who play as unconventional as Suarez this decade. The development of the youth training industry has partly assimilated talents. Trainees are trained in a disciplined manner and according to standardized lesson plans. Therefore, the difference in skills and personalities between the players is no longer as clear as before.
In other words, most players, from Europe to South America, from Africa to Asia, handle the ball in a neat, round but lack of mutation than before. Suarez is completely different. The rush of life and the battles for survival on the streets of Montevideo have molded a striker full of ego.
Suarez can miss a chance for a decade because he lacks basic handling skills but scores goals from unexpected situations. From a cut on the ball rolled into the far corner, a shot of the lips, a kicking phase to a heel loop combined with a tire. Then the crotch situations, the continuous lowering and shifting of focus in the narrow space etc.
No school teaches how to handle such a wild animal except on the street, where Suarez always has to fight big opponents and is ready to destroy the opponent in a lawless way. Strikers like Suarez in the next decade will be few, even extinct.
