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Grab a bite (No pun intended), sit back and take a look at these amazing Luis Suarez facts. Luis Suarez is many things. He’s outrageously talented, controversial, unpredictable and emotional, in short the complete package. Love him or hate him you just can’t ignore him. The Uruguayan has had a roller coaster ride in football which has caused him to gain a reputation as a national hero as well as a figure of hate. The former Liverpool striker’s goalscoring exploits are familiar to everyone but I’m sure his life off the pitch isn’t. .
The Barcelona striker was born on 24th January 1987 in Salto, Uruguay’s second largest city famous for their heated pools, to Rodolfo a porter and Sandra a housewife. The striker’s elder brother Paolo is also a footballer and currently plays for Guatemala club Comunicaciones. Suarez and his family moved to Uruguay’s capital Montevideo when he was six and it was there that he began developing his skills with local club Urreta.
Suarez’s impact at Urreta was enormous and he scored a hat-trick on his debut, saving his team from a 2-0 defeat in the process. The striker’s incredible talent was spotted by Wilson Pirez a scout for Nacional – Uruguay’s largest football club, who wasted no time in signing the nine year old.
The youngster’s life on the pitch was adversely affected due to his parents separating and he found comfort in vices like heavy partying and drinking which almost cost him his career. Suarez’s bad habits disappeared after he met his future wife Sofia at the age of 15, who helped him get back to his best. After he got over his bad spell he hit 10 goals in 27 games which helped him earn a transfer to Eredivise club Groningen for a record fee of £667,000 and it was there where he started to fulfil his destiny of becoming one of the most feared strikers in the world.
Suarez had difficulties adjusting to life in Holland and frequently got into bust ups with referee’s but still managed to score an impressive 15 goals in 37 goals for Groningen which earned him a transfer to the biggest club in Holland – Ajax Amsterdam!
The Uruguayan formed a lethal strike partnership with Klaas Jan Huntelaar and the pair scored 77 goals between them before the latter’s departure to Real Madrid. In total Suarez netted 111 goals in 159 appearances for Ajax before his £22.8 million move to Liverpool in 2010.
At Liverpool he lit up the Premier League with his almost superhuman scoring abilities and netted 82 astonishing goals, winning the Premier League Player of the Year along with the Golden Boot, before departing for Barcelona where he will continue his journey in football.
Besides being known for his razor sharp teeth which have left marks on the likes of Branislav Ivanovic and Giorgio Chiellini Suarez is also known for his elf like pointy years and even appeared in a Dutch hearing aid commercial during his time at Ajax.
Even though he is known for his flamboyant attitude on the pitch, Suarez holds his family very close to his heart. Together with Sofia he has a son Benjamin and daughter Delfina, whose name is an anagram of Liverpool’s home ground Anfield.
Suarez, who is nicknamed ‘El Pistolero’ which means ‘The Gunfigher’ had previously stated that his technique and goalscoring abilities are what makes him so good as a footballer. "I can say that I am technically very good, and I am lucky to be able to score goals easily. However, I don't like to talk about myself; I prefer others to say what they think of me."
As you eagerly await the Uruguayans debut for Barcelona you should know that the striker shares his name with one of Barca’s all time greats. Luis Suarez Miramontes won the La Liga thrice with the Catalan club along the Serie A the same number of times with Inter Milan and is widely regarded as one of the greats of the game. The name must have a magical touch.
Suarez has sponsorship deals with German sportswear company Adidas who supply the striker with their F50 adizero version of their boots, betting site 888Poker, Standard Chartered Bank among other companies.
He is pretty active on the social media and you can connect with him via his facebook account (https://www.facebook.com/suarez16luis) or his twitter account (https://twitter.com/LuisSuarez9).
The wait for Suarez’s Barcelona debut may be a bit of a long one but is totally worth it as the striker is determined to return better than ever and bowl us over with his skills once again.
