You know all the bad stuff about Luis Suarez.
Like this…
And that…
And a more than a little bit of the other too…
Yes, Luis Suarez has had a pretty rough time of it over the years – most of it self-inflicted.
But when many players may have walked away, he’s come back stronger – and better – than ever.
And that’s what makes him such a rare talent.
You see, Luis Suarez has never had it easy.
When he was a youngster growing up in Salto, Uruguay, he had to sweep the streets to help raise money for his family.
His dad abandoned him. His school work suffered.
But football was his salvation.
Aged just nine, he scored a hat-trick as a substitute for Urreta. Soon he was spotted by a scout working for Nacional.
But the young Luis lacked focus and as he entered his teenage years, he became distracted, staying out late most nights and neglecting his football.
“I went through a phase in which the football wasn’t going well for me and I didn’t want to study. I didn’t like to train. I was a rebel and that worked against me,” he says.
Enter Sofia Balbi, the girl who would make him the man he is today.
She offered support, encouragement and a way through his problems – and they married in 2009.
The transformation was remarkable.
He starred for Nacional and earned a move to Holland to play for Groningen…
Before switching to Ajax and scoring an astonishing 111 in 159 games…
You know the rest of the story.
You know how he all but carried the Liverpool side under Brendan Rodgers…
You know how he somehow made the most fearsome attack in the world even more potent…
But what you don’t know – what nobody knows – is just how he didn’t make it into the final three for this year’s Ballon d’Or.