Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Grêmio and the Uruguay national team. Nicknamed El Pistolero ('The Gunman'), Suárez is regarded as one of the best players of his generation and one of the greatest strikers of all time. He has won two European Golden Shoes, an Eredivisie Golden Boot, a Premier League Golden Boot and a Pichichi Trophy, and has scored over 500 career goals for club and country.
Suárez began his senior club career at Nacional in 2005. At age 19, he signed for Groningen, before transferring to Ajax in 2007. There, he won the KNVB Cup and the Eredivisie. In 2011, Suárez signed for Premier League club Liverpool, and won the League Cup in his first full season. Having established a strike partnership with Daniel Sturridge, he equalled the goalscoring record for a 38-game Premier League season and won his first European Golden Shoe in 2014. That summer, Suárez moved to Barcelona in a transfer worth £64.98 million (€82.3 million), making him one of the most expensive players of all time.
Dubbed MSN, Suárez was part of a dominant trio alongside Lionel Messi and Neymar, winning the treble of La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League in his first season. In his second season, he won the Pichichi Trophy and his second European Golden Shoe, becoming the first player since 2009 to win both awards other than Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. He also led La Liga in assists, becoming the first player to do so in both goals and assists in league history. With Barcelona, Suárez won ten additional trophies, including three La Liga titles and three Copas del Rey. He signed for Atlético Madrid in 2020, winning his fifth La Liga title in his second season.
At international level, Suárez is Uruguay's all-time leading goalscorer, and formerly held the title of highest scorer in CONMEBOL FIFA World Cup qualifiers before being surpassed by former teammate Lionel Messi. He has represented his nation at four editions of the FIFA World Cup and four editions of the Copa América, as well as the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. He was named in the 2010 World Cup All-Star Team and won the 2011 Copa América, where he was awarded Best Player. Outside of his football credentials, Suárez has been a source of controversy throughout his career, including a goal-line handball against Ghana at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, biting opponents on three occasions, accusations of diving, and racial incidents.
Club career
Youth
Suárez lived his early years at the Cerro neighbourhood in Salto, where he played youth football at Sportivo Artigas. At age seven, he moved with his family (parents and six brothers) to Montevideo, where he played youth football at Urreta. When he was a child, a car ran over his foot, breaking the fifth metatarsal bone. In spite of the injury, he continued to play.
Nacional
Suárez joined local side Nac's youth team at age 14. At age 16, Suárez 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. In May 2005, at age 18, Suárez made his first-team debut against Atlético Junior in the Copa Libertadores. He scored his first goal in September 2005 and helped Nacional win the 2005–06 Uruguayan league with 10 goals in 27 matches.
Suárez was found by a group of scouts from the Dutch club Groningen when they were in Uruguay to scout another player. As they watched, he won and converted a penalty and scored a "wonder goal" against Defensor. After watching only that match, the scouts approached Suárez and said they wanted to buy him, and after the season, Groningen paid Nacional €800,000 for him. Suárez was thrilled to go to Europe because his then girlfriend, and now wife, Sofía Balbi, had moved to Barcelona; they had maintained a long-distance relationship for a year and he wanted to move closer to her.