On This Day – 24th January
Luis Alberto Suarez Diaz (or simply Luis Suarez) was born on this day in 1987 in Salto, Uruguay.
Controversy has followed Suarez wherever he has gone in his career. He has bitten three opponents, been accused of racially abusing an opponent and also was regularly booked for diving.
Suarez also deliberately handled on the line in a World Cup Quarter Final against Ghana in 2010 as he pushed a header off the line with both of his hands. If the header had gone in, Ghana would have won the Quarter Final. Instead, Ghana missed the resulting penalty, Suarez celebrated on the touchline and Uruguay won the penalty shootout after the game ended in a draw.
He later said “I made the save of the tournament” and “The Hand of God now belongs to me. Mine is the real Hand of God” when asked of the incident.
For all of his misgivings, Suarez has been a prolific goalscorer. He is Uruguay’s highest ever goalscorer with an impressive 59 goals in 113 appearances.
Suarez was also one of a fantastic attacking trio at Barcelona alongside Lionel Messi and Neymar in recent times.
Suarez has won 18 trophies in his career and many personal awards too. He is rightly regarded as one of the best strikers of the last ten years.
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