Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (American Spanish: [ˈlwis ˈswaɾes]; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays for Spanish club FC Barcelona and the Uruguayan national team as a striker.
In July 2014, Suárez moved to Barcelona for a fee reported by the English press in the region of £75 million (€94 million), while Barcelona claim a fee of £65 million (€81 million), making him the third most expensiveplayer in football history.[2][3] He is widely regarded as one of the best strikers in the world.[4][5][6]
Suárez began his career as a youth player for Nacional in 2003. He signed for Groningen in the Eredivisie in 2006 and transferred to Ajax in 2007. In 2008–09 he was named Ajax Player of the Year. The following year, he was made the club captain, helping Ajax win the KNVB Cup while becoming the league's top scorer with 35 goals in 33 games. He was also named Dutch Footballer of the Year and scored 49 goals in all competitions. In the 2010–11 season, he scored his one hundredth Ajax goal, joining a group of players including Johan Cruyff, Marco van Basten and Dennis Bergkamp in doing so.
In January 2011, Suárez transferred to Liverpool for €26.5 million (£22.8 million). In February 2012, Suárez won the Football League Cup with the club. In April 2014, he won the PFA Players' Player of the Year award, becoming the first non-European to win the award,[7]and the FWA Footballer of the Year. As the Premier League's top scorer with 31 goals he won the Premier League Golden Boot, and shared the European Golden Shoe with Cristiano Ronaldo.
Suárez represented Uruguay in the 2007 U-20 World Cup. In the 2010 World Cup, he played an important role in Uruguay's fourth-place finish and scored three goals, and blocked an extra time goalbound header with his hands during the quarter finals against Ghana. At the 2011 Copa América, Suárez scored four goals for Uruguay as they won a record fifteenth Copa América and was named Player of the Tournament.[8] On 23 June 2013, he became Uruguay's all-time record goalscorer with 35 goals. At the 2014 World Cup, he scored his 40th goal.
Suárez has been the source of much controversy throughout his career.[9][10][11] As well as his 2010 World Cup goal-line handball, he has also bitten three opponents, the latest being Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup,[12][13][14][15] has been widely accused of and admitted to diving,[16][17] and was found guilty by the FA of racially abusing Patrice Evra,[18] a decision Suárez disputes.[19]
