Love, fear and desire – Unravelling the primal emotions that make the genius of Luis Suarez tick

Football united Luis with the love of his life Sofia. They got married in 2009

The controversies and the victories – a flawed hero is born

In the summer of 2010, Suarez went to South Africa – the first glimpse the wider footballing world had of the maverick Uruguayan. He had a brilliant tournament, sparking La Celeste’s run to the semifinals with displays of astonishing skill. No one remembers that though – all that anyone can recollect from Suárez’s World Cup was his ridiculous impersonation of Gordon Banks – stopping what would have been a winner from Stephen Appiah on the line, with his hands.

Asamoah Gyan missed the resulting penalty; the Ghanaians lost their collective heads and were thrown out of their continent’s Cup. Suárez had become the very definition of a pantomime villain – his exuberant celebration of Gyan’s miss not helping his cause in the eyes of most of the watching world.

Think about this for a minute, now – from an Uruguayan point of view, if you will. What would you have done in this situation? Let the ball go in, and see your team applauded off the field as brave losers? Or selflessly hurl yourself at the ball in the wildly remote chance that the opposition would miss their penalty and there would be a slight chance for your team to go through?

Suarez wasn’t a loser. He had never accepted defeat. He simply was never going to let his team lose if he could help it, even if it meant he would face punishment and ridicule. And his countrymen love(d) him for it.

The next year would see more controversy as, in what would prove to be his last match with Ajax, he bit Otman Bakkal’s shoulder during a typically ill-tempered match against bitter rivals PSV Eindhoven. He was immediately suspended, but during that suspension he would get a transfer to another legendary club – Liverpool F.C.

At the Merseyside club, Suárez would jump from one controversy to another – all the while scoring goals for the sheer fun of it. The racial abuse incident with Patrice Evra (2011-12) and ‘The Biting: Act II’ with Branislav Ivanovic (2012-13) were discussed to death and shown as ample evidence of the “bad side” of the Uruguayan. This was no role model for the millions of impressionable young minds who looked up to players like him, they said.

While racism in all its forms is deplorable and should be removed by all means available, it must be pointed out that Suárez has always denied abusing Evra with any intention to slight his appearance, culture or race. Not many believe him though.

Incredible scenes as ‘The Biting Act:II’ is enactd between Suárez and Ivanovic

The biting on the other hand (no pun intended), was indefensible – just as it was in his Ajax times, just as it would be in Brazil. This was just Suárez lashing out – you see, for him, every match represents a battle. A battle he has to win by all means (probably also explains that unfortunate habit of his to dive whenever a defender breathes too hard next to him).

For Suarez, a tackle from an opposition defender isn’t merely a tackle – it is an attempt to take back from him all that he has worked so hard to achieve. He just isn’t going to let that happen, and his reactions on the field are accordingly unpredictable.

In between all this though, he played some astonishing football for Liverpool, and last season was one of the most jaw-dropping displays of talent the great league has witnessed in its long existence. Despite missing six of the Scouser’s early games (the 10-match ban he got for the Ivanovic incident carried forward), he scored 31 goals (not a penalty amongst the 31) to become not just the top scorer in England, but joint top scorer in Europe (along with who else, but Cristiano Ronaldo).

Suarez’s magical ability to transform matches with impossible displays of skill took Liverpool to within a hair’s breadth of their first ever Premier League crown and won him the Player of the Year award from both his fellow professionals (the first non-European to win) and the writers’ association.

Barcelona and history beckon

And then came Brazil; the World Cup. Emergency surgery and intensive care was needed on his left knee to make him available in time. He recovered (almost) and when Uruguay lost against the brilliant Costa Ricans, he knew he had to get back on the field, dodgy knee or not. He inspired them to victory over England and Italy. But in that fateful game came ‘The Biting: Act III’ – Giorgio Chiellini the unwitting victim this time.

With the tough stance taken by FIFA (‘fascist’, according to the enigmatic Uruguayan President Jose Mujica) and the hatred spewing out of commenters and fans (Chiellini was markedly dismissive of the whole affair and said Suárez’s ban was harsh) over the incident, it seemed like the end of his glory days was near. (As an aside, biting surely isn’t the worst offence or act of physical aggression that can be committed on a football field, and Suarez has never been prone to displays of over-the-top, person-hurting violence).

Yet, for all his human flaws, there was no denying his quality as a footballer, and soon Barcelona came a-calling.

Finally, after risking it all more than ten years ago, the Uruguayan has reached Spain.

He has yet to play an official match for his new club, but he has been training with Lionel Messi, Neymar Jr. and Co. (that draconian punishment having been lifted by FIFA earlier), and his appearances in the recently concluded international friendlies for Uruguay should mean that he is match fit. His ban lifts at 00.00 hours on the 25th of October, 2014.

18 hours later there is the small matter of “El Clásico”

Imperfection is underrated

Those human flaws we talked about earlier, those ‘imperfections’ of character that have been so derided, are what make Suárez such a special hero. In a world obsessed with perfection (the magical journeys in the pursuit of sporting and athletic perfection of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo stand at the forefront in the world of football), Luis Suárez stands apart. His smile isn’t superstar material (it’s toothy, it’s goofy and it’s brilliant), he isn’t as effortlessly cool as a Zlatan Ibrahimovic, he has off days where nothing goes right for him and he fluffs chances sometimes.

But that’s makes what comes when he is on form so much more special – the dribbles, the flicks and the tricks, the inconceivably brilliant finishes. More than all that though, it’s the legs that never seem to tire, the intense (almost greedy) desire to win and the heart that that says he’d rather drop dead than let someone beat him, that make him a true hero. And he does it all for love.

Imperfection is so underrated.