Luis Suárez was born on the 24th of January 1987. He is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Spanish club Atlético Madrid and the Uruguay national team. Nicknamed El Pistolero (‘The Gunman’), Suarez is known for his passing, finishing and comfort with the ball. Suárez is regarded as one of the best players of his generation and one of the greatest strikers of all time. The Uruguayan has won two European Golden Shoes, an Eredivisie Golden Boot, a Premier League Golden Boot, and the Pichichi Trophy. And as a matter of fact, he has scored over 500 career goals for club and country. Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz
Club career
Youth
As per BBC research, Luiz Suárez lived his early years at the Cerro neighborhood in Salto, where he played youth football at Sportivo Artigas. the research hane it that at age seven, he moved with his family (parents and six brothers) to Montevideo, where he played youth football at Urreta. When Luiz Suárez was a kid, a car ran over his foot, breaking the fifth metatarsal bone. In spite of the injury, he continued to play.
Nacional
at the age of 14, Suárez joined local side Nacional’s youth team. When he progressed to the age of 16, he headbutted a referee after showing his discontent following a red card, although a sports editor claimed he “accidentally fell into the referee”. One night, he was caught drinking and partying, prompting his coach to threaten he would never play unless he started playing football more seriously. At 18, he made his first-team debut against Atlético Junior in the Copa Libertadores in May 2005. There, he scored his first goal in September 2005 and helped Nacional win the 2005–06 Uruguayan league with 10 goals in 27 matches.
Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz was found by a group of scouts from the Dutch club Groningen when they were in Uruguay to scout another player. As the scouters were watching, Suarez won and converted a penalty and scored a “wonder goal” against Defensor. After the match, they approached Suárez and said they wanted to buy him, and after the season, Groningen paid Nacional €800,000 for him.
Groningen
The then 19 years old Suárez joined Groningen. He initially, struggled because he could not speak Dutch or English, and he played on the second team to adjust to the Dutch game. But nevertheless, his teammate and fellow Uruguayan, Bruno Silva, helped him settle into living in the Netherlands and playing for a new team.
However, the Netherland heavyweight team, Ajax saw potential in Suárez and offered Groningen €3.5 million for him, but Groningen rejected the offer. The young star was upset and brought his case to the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB)’s arbitration committee to try to facilitate the sale. But the Association ruled against him on 9 August 2007, but that same day, Ajax increased their offer to €7.5 million and Groningen accepted.
Ajax
Luiz signed a five-year contract with Ajax, for a transfer fee of €7.5 million on the 9th of August 2007, and made his club debut in the UEFA Champions League qualifier against Slavia Prague. It has been recorded that he scored one goal in his Eredivisie debut for the club and two goals in his home debut at the Amsterdam Arena. The club finished second in the league table in the 2007–08 season and Suárez scored 17 goals in 33 league appearances, setting up a blossoming striking partnership with league top scorer Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.
On the 20th of November 2010, Suárez bit PSV’s Otman Bakkal on the shoulder during a 0–0 draw. The club suspended him for two matches and fined him an undisclosed amount, which the club said they would donate to a “good cause”. Again, the Dutch daily newspaper De Telegraaf branded Suárez the “Cannibal of Ajax”. Nevertheless, the KNVB increased Suárez’s suspension to seven league matches. Suárez apologised for his actions through a video he uploaded to his Facebook page.
Liverpool
It was recorded that during Luiz Suarez suspension, Ajax were in contact with other European clubs interested in Suárez. However, on the 28th of January 2011, they accepted a €26.5 million (£22.8 million) offer for Suárez from Premier League club Liverpool.
The Uruguayan international signed a five-and-a-half-year deal with Liverpool until 2016, and was the club’s most expensive signing (£22.8 million) until the arrival of Andy Carroll (£35 million) a few hours later. he requested the number seven shirt, which had been worn by Liverpool legends Kenny Dalglish, his new manager, Kevin Keegan, and Peter Beardsley
During a 2–2 draw with Chelsea in a Premier League match at Anfield, again, Luiz Suárez bit Branislav Ivanović; this was the second time Suárez had bitten an opponent on the 21st of April 2013. It was not noticed by the officials, and Suárez scored an equaliser in injury time. According to the then report, that bite prompted UK Prime Minister David Cameron to call on the FA to take a hard line with Suárez: the FA charged him with violent conduct and he was fined an undisclosed sum by his club. Contrary to claims from Suárez, Ivanović did not accept an apology. Suárez accepted the violent conduct charge but denied the FA’s claim the standard punishment of three matches was clearly insufficient for his offence.
As per statistics, on the 5th of May 2014, Suárez was named as the Football Association Writers Player of the Year. And as the Premier League’s top scorer with 31 goals, he also shared the European Golden Shoe with Cristiano Ronaldo. On 21 May 2014, Suárez ranked number one on “Europe’s most influential player” list of the year, ahead of Lionel Messi, Zlatan Ibrahimović and Cristiano Ronaldo, according to a study by Bloomberg of the top five European leagues.
Barcelona
Signing and suspension
Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz agreed with Barcelona on a five-year contract for an undisclosed transfer fee on the 11th of July 2014. However, according to a leaked document by Football Leaks, the fee was £64.98 million (€82.3 million), making him one of the most expensive players in world football history. Barça confirmed Suárez would wear the number 9 shirt for the 2014–15 season
Suarez has won numerous trophies in Barcelona, and on the 8th of August, having missed the first leg due to injury, Suárez scored from the penalty spot during Barcelona’s 3–1 win over Napoli in the second leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie, as they advanced to the quarter-finals to play Bayern Munich in a single-legged match. Again, he scored his side’s second goal as Barcelona suffered a historic 2–8 defeat against Bayern on the 14th of August, the club’s worst defeat in nearly seventy years that capped a first trophyless season since 2007–08.
Atlético Madrid
2020–21: Debut season and fifth La Liga title
After Ronald Koeman became Barcelona head coach on 19 August 2020, he informed Suárez he was no longer wanted, and club president Josep Maria Bartomeu had also left him off a list of players he considered not for sale in the aftermath of the 8–2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League earlier that month.
Suárez signed a two-year contract with Atlético Madrid. On THE 27th of September, Suárez made his debut for the club, scoring two goals and providing Marcos Llorente with an assist in a 6–1 victory against Granada.
On the 22nd of May, the final matchday of the league season, Suárez scored the winning goal in a 2–1 comeback away at Real Valladolid, leading his club to a victory that would ultimately hand them their first La Liga title in seven years. As a matter of fact, the 35-year old finished his debut season as Atletico’s top scorer with 21 goals.
International career
As per BBC report Luiz Suárez was invited to play for Uruguay in the qualifying rounds for the 2007 U-20 World Cup, but his club, Groningen, did not release him to play. The young star did play in the tournament finals, and he scored two goals in four appearances. It is recorded that his goals came in a group stage draw against Spain and in the Round of 16 against the United States, but the U.S. won 2–1 and Uruguay was eliminated from the tournament.
2010 FIFA World Cup
Óscar Tabárez named Suárez to Uruguay’s 23-man World Cup squad in June 2010. Uruguay began the tournament with a 0–0 draw against France.
2011 Copa América
The former FC Barcerna striker was named most valuable player of the 2011 Copa América
Still in the 2011 Copa América, Suárez scored in Uruguay’s opening game, a 1–1 draw with Peru. In their next game, he provided the assist for Alvaro Pereira’s goal in a 1–1 draw with Chile.
Copa América Centenario and 2018 FIFA World Cup
After some years of international absence for Uruguay, Suárez scored an equalizer against Brazil in Recife for a 2–2 draw in the qualification process for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
2021–present: Copa América
Luiz Suárez scored in a 1–1 draw against Chile in Uruguay’s second group match of the 2021 Copa América in Brazil on the 22nd of June 2021. However, Uruguay lost against Colombia in the quarter-finals on penalties after a goalless draw
Luis Suarez net worth
Luis Suarez is a Uruguayan soccer player who has a net worth of $70 million.
Luis Suarez’s salary
Between June 2017 and June 2018, Luis Suarez earned $27 million, of which $20 million was salary and $7 million was from endorsements.
Other facts
Age: 35
Source of Wealth: Soccer
Salary/Winnings: $20.1 M
Endorsements: $3.5 M
Residence: Montevideo, Uruguay
Citizenship: Uruguay
Marital: Status Married
Children: 2
Agent: Pere Guardiola
Agency: Media Base Sports
Sponsors: Adidas, Gatorade