The journey to the land of success was more of a fairytale beginning, and in the end, the journey was encapsulated with a lot of success stories and unimaginable accomplishments, all of these depict the story of a young Uruguayan, Luis Suarez.
Luis Suarez was born in Salto, Uruguay, a town with a population of 104,028 as of then. He was one of seven kids born to Rodolfo, a porter, and his mom Sandra, a housewife.
Roosted on the banks of the River Uruguay on the outskirt with Argentina, Salto is a town of cobbled roads and parks. Local people frequently sip — a homegrown beverage like tea — in little groups in the streets.
A family that had limited monetary assets that needed to move to the country’s capital when he was six on the grounds that there was no work for his parents in Salto.
Rodolfo Suarez was employed in the El Trigal biscuit production line in the country’s capital (Montevideo). So it was that when his mother found a cleaning job of work in Tres Cruces. The entire family would have to move. Suarez was hesitant to move at first but later get on with the move.
Divorce and money were a long way from the main issues for the Suarezes in Montevideo. The kids found it hard to mix in with the locals, who derided their accent. He spent a year in Montevideo and when school was out he returns to spend the late spring in Salto on the grounds that he missed it to such an extent
“The change of city, the way of talking – because they talk differently there and of course they make fun of you,”.
Luis, regardless of his extraordinary talent, lost the inspiration to play. However, the move to the country’s capital ultimately ends up being a gift for his career; only in the capital could he receive the proper development as a footballer.
‘At the point when we came to live in Montevideo, we began to search for a football team for him,’ says his mom. ‘I was told about Urreta, a club where there were a lot of people with money so I took him there.
He was a sub in a friendly match a couple of days later. They were losing 2-0 so they put Luis on, he scored three to make it 3-2.’
And afterward, he met Sofía, the greatest impact on his life. She transformed him, Sofía was 13 and Luis was 15 when they met. “It was a major change in each sense,” he says.
“I was extremely lazy about everything and she helped me to understand that it wasn’t on the grounds that I was a dullard that things weren’t working out in a good way but since I wasn’t interested.” ‘It helped me understand how significant football was for me.’
Suarez Continued playing for Urreta Fc and long after, his talent caught the eyes of a scout, Wilson Pirez who offered him the chance of building a professional career in football at the Nacional youth team.
Luis Suarez Journey
Suarez kicked start his career as a young player at Nacional in 2003, during his stint with the Uruguayan side he scored 10 goals in 27 games before he got his dream move to Europe.
Signing for Groningen in Holland, where he caught the attention of then Groningen manager Rob Jans who now managed in the USA with FC Cincinnati.
According to Rob Jan: “We were scouting another player in Uruguay, Luis caught our attention, we were crazy about him and sorted a deal as soon as we could, it was the most expensive signing we’ve ever made, it was a gamble but it was really a good one“
As Rob Jan noted, the gamble Groningen took back then to sign the young Suarez really paid off with an €800,000 transfer fee. A deal that took him closer to his girlfriend Sofia who relocated to Barcelona before Suarez found his way out of Nacional to joined Groningen in the Netherlands.
READ ALSO: Just One Trophy In A Decade! Can Antonio Conte Deliver An Improbable Serie A Title?
The former Nacional forward joined Groningen at 19, having joined the Dutch side. He struggled because he could not speak Dutch or English, due to that he was asked to play on the second team in other to help him adjust to the Dutch game.
Thankfully for Suarez, his fellow Uruguayan Bruno Silva helped him settled well into the team and the lifestyles of the Dutch.
For what Luis Suarez is known for, the Uruguayan is no stranger to controversies, with the biting of an opponent, diving, and a match-saving handball at the World Cup quarter-final, where he denied the Black Stars of Ghana in qualifying to the next round, all of these were also part of his making at Groningen, when he had disciplinary problems by receiving three yellow cards and one red card.
Although Suarez stint with the ‘Green-White Army’ was a short one, he did make his mark with the Dutch side with 29 league appearances and 10 goals to his name to helped Groningen finished eighth on the Eredivisie league table in the 2006-07 season.
He left for Ajax Amsterdam the following season, amidst a tense situation from Groningen who didn’t want him to leave before he eventually joined the Dutch giant on a five years contract worth €7.5 million.
Suarez’s debut for Ajax came on a Champions League night against Slavia Prague. While his league debut produced two goals at the Amsterdam Arena, as Ajax finished second on the league table in the Eredivisie having scored 17 goals in 33 league appearances, with a fruitful striking partnership with the Eredivisie top scorer Klass Jan Huntelaar.
As the former Nacional forward stint continued with Ajax, his controversial and unpalatable attitude raised its ugly heads again when he bit his opponent Otman Bakkal against PSV Eindhoven, which made the Dutch daily newspaper De Telegraaf brand him the “Cannibal of Ajax“.
And during those periods despite his ugly and unfriendly attitude, he was an important player for the Dutch side. The manager of the team Van Basten also buttressed the fact that he was an important player despite been a player that is always surrounded by controversies.
In the 2009-10 season, a lot changed in the team, Van Basten left the team, Martin Jol was brought in to replaced him, likewise the captain of the team Thomas Vermaelen left for Arsenal.
For the team leadership to keep going smoothly, Suarez was made the new captain of the team and in that season he scored tons of goals including the four goals he scored against Slovan Bratislava in the Europa League playoff round and ended the season as the Eredivisie’s top scorer with 35 goals in 33 matches, 49 in all competitions.
His impressive campaign won him Ajax player of the year and Dutch footballer of the year, but unfortunately that season Ajax finished second in the league behind FC Twente.
As time goes on, Suarez continued to show the world of football and prospective clubs who would love to have him in their team that he’s one player that can deliver the goals aplenty. Having walked his way into Europe from Nacional to Groningen, the team that harnesses his potential and helped him to understand better Dutch football and European football as a whole.
After he returned from the World Cup, he scored his 100th goals for Ajax in a 1-1 home draw against PAOK in a UEFA Champions League qualifier, a feat that put him in the ranks of the elite group of players in the football world.
Though Suarez’s stint with Ajax was clouded with a lot of controversies and ban for improper conduct. However, he did make his mark and painted the Eredivisie with goals for the Dutch giant, won the league and the KNVB cup, and his entire stint with Ajax produced over 111 goals in 159 appearances for Ajax Amsterdam.
Having announced himself to the football world during his stint with Ajax, his quality attracted Liverpool, and in 2011 the Uruguayan forward signed a five and half year deal with the Anfield side until 2016, which made him the most expensive signing for the club with £22.8 million until the arrival of Andy Carroll who was signed for £35 million.
READ ALSO: Los Galacticos: The Genesis & The Success So Far
Luis Suarez made his debut for Liverpool against Stoke City in a 2-0 win, where he came on as a substitute to score the second goal for Liverpool. Despite having a poor season with just four goals in 13 matches for Liverpool, he was still rated as one of the team best players in that season as they finished sixth in the league.
The following season was a more fruitful one for Luis Suarez as he won the Copa America and the best player of the tournament, despite that the Uruguayan forward still wasn’t satisfied with his performances for that season and he termed the season as disappointing by his standards, as Liverpool finished eighth on the table with just 11 goals for Suarez.
For what the Uruguayan is known for, during his time with Liverpool his ugly side raised its head again when he was involved in a racial abuse incident with Patrice Evra. He was found guilty by a three-man panel from the Football Association, for racially abusing the Frenchman against Manchester United, as such he was issued an eight-match suspension with £40,000 fine.
Many may sees Luis Suarez as a player that comes with a lot of controversial bags and luggage, as usual, right? He was involved in another bitting case that involved himself and Ivanovic during his stay with the Kops, but he was regarded as one of the best to have played in the Premier League and for Liverpool.
Albeit his stay in Anfield may not come with a lot of titles but he did make his mark and won personal accolades for himself, he finished 6th in the FIFA Ballon d’Or in 2011 and 5th in 2015.
Luis Suarez was also named in the PFA Team of the year for the 2012-13 Premier League, 2013-14, and Liverpool player of the season for that period, he was also named Premier League player of the month in 2013.
March 2014 also ushered in another personal award for the Uruguayan forward, he was named Liverpool player’s player of the season among others.
Having done impressively well for Liverpool during his stay, he was snapped up by the Spanish giants FC Barcelona for an undisclosed fee in a cloud of controversy.
According to a leaked report it’s was reported to be around £64.98 million which made him one of the most expensive players in football history.
Despite the ban case that involved him with the biting of Giorgio Chiellini in the 2014 World Cup. With the ban, Suarez was unable to make his debut for his new club until October 25th.
Luis Suarez made his competitive debut for Barcelona against Real Madrid in El Clasico having settled his ban case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. He set up the Catalan side opening goal in the fourth minute, Barcelona eventually lost the Clasico 3-1 to Real Madrid.
In his next match for Barcelona in the Champions League group stage against Apoel, he scored his first goal for the Catalan side.
As Suarez gradually settled into the Barcelona team, he brought his quality to the fore in the Copa Del Rey semi-final win against Villarreal to push the club for its 37th Spanish cup final.
He continues to hit the ground running with some of his stunning goals, he was praised by the then manager of the team Luis Enrique saying:
“Very few players can score goals as he does, and that is why we signed him, he can decide games, he’s a pure scorer who needs very little to finish”.
He was also instrumental in Barcelona’s Champions League triumph against Juventus in the final when he put the team back to lead, in an eventual 3-1 win, he converted a rebound from Buffon’s parried shot from Messi.
Luis Suarez and the entire Barcelona team went on to seal a treble that season, scoring 25 goals and 20 assists in all competitions with a fruitful partnership with the duo of Messi and Neymar, which produced a whopping 122 goals the most in a season for an attacking trio ‘MSN’ in Spanish football history.
READ ALSO: Luther Blissett! First Black Player To Score A Hat-trick
Suarez’s career as a professional footballer has always come with a lot of controversies, we can not shy away from his pure and intelligent quality, which he has shown to the world over years, and has won him a lot for the country and most especially his club side.
And since he joined Barcelona, he has been able to achieve success with the Catalan, winning 4 league titles, 4 Copa Del Rey’s, 2 Supercopa de Espana, 1 Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup.
Love him or loathe him, there is no denying the fact that Luis Suarez is one of the best strikers in the world of football, having proved himself both at the national and club level in Europe even though his career is gradually whining down at 33.
Thankfully, with the resumption of the La Liga on the horizon, the Uruguayan forward might also wrap up the season with a league title, if Barcelona eventually gets to win the league at the expense of arch-rival Real Madrid, as his stint with the Catalan side is gradually whining down.
Without a doubt, the young boy from Salto has indeed grown into a great man with great success to point at in his career as a footballer.
