# Matías Suárez

Matías Ezequiel Suárez (Spanish pronunciation:; born 9 May 1988) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Chilean club Unión Española.

## Club career
### Club Atlético Belgrano

Suárez started his professional career at Club Atlético Belgrano in 2006. He was Club Atlético Belgrano's top scorer in the Primera B Nacional of Argentina in 2007–08. Due to his performances he attracted the attention of Arsenal.

### Anderlecht

In 2008 Suárez moved from Belgrano and completed his transfer to Anderlecht. He went on to establish himself as a key member of the Anderlecht side contributing many goals and assists in the process, especially following the departure of the team's star player Romelu Lukaku to Chelsea in the summer of 2011.
The 2011–12 season was his best so far, on a personal level and with the team. While Anderlecht were crowned Belgian champions, Suárez was crowned Player of the Year 2011 and elected Player of the Season 2011–12 by his professional colleagues in Belgium. After a highly successful season, Suarez was officially signed by CSKA Moscow. The fee was undisclosed and later cancelled as Suárez failed the medical tests and returned to Anderlecht afterwards.

### Return to Belgrano

After the 2016 terrorist attacks on Brussels, Suárez announced his intention to leave Anderlecht at the end of the season, despite Anderlecht and Belgrano not agreeing on a transfer fee. As a consequence, he terminated his contract unilaterally, allegedly fearing for his family's safety. In December 2017, FIFA delivered a decision in favor of Anderlecht, ruling out any alleged threat on Suárez family and ordered Suárez and his club to pay Anderlecht compensation. The club filed a complaint to FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber, which ordered the player to pay €540,350 to the club. Both the player and the club filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The court ordered the player and Belgrano jointly liable to pay Anderlecht €1,212,225.23.

### River Plate

On 26 January 2019, River Plate paid Belgrano $2.8 million for the player's rights. Suárez signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with his new team. He scored his first goal on his debut on 30 January 2019, against Godoy Cruz.

### Belgrano

In January 2024, he returned to Belgrano for a third spell on a one-year contract.

### Unión Española

In January 2025, Suárez moved to Chile and signed with Unión Española.

## International career

Suárez made his debut for Argentina national team on 22 March 2019 in a friendly against Venezuela, as a half-time substitute for Pity Martínez.

## Personal life

He is the uncle of fellow footballers Federico Álvarez and Gastón Álvarez Suárez. He is married to singer Magalí Olave and has two children.

## Career statistics

    As of 19 April 2023
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | National cup | National cup | League cup | League cup | Continental | Continental | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Anderlecht | 2008–09 | Belgian First Division | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 2 |
| Anderlecht | 2009–10 | Belgian Pro League | 35 | 11 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 13 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 15 |
| Anderlecht | 2010–11 | Belgian Pro League | 34 | 8 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 12 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 47 | 10 |
| Anderlecht | 2011–12 | Belgian Pro League | 35 | 12 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 10 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 20 |
| Anderlecht | 2012–13 | Belgian Pro League | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 3 |
| Anderlecht | 2013–14 | Belgian Pro League | 11 | 6 | 1 | 1 | – | – | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 7 |
| Anderlecht | 2014–15 | Belgian Pro League | 13 | 4 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 4 |
| Anderlecht | 2015–16 | Belgian Pro League | 23 | 5 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 6 |
| Anderlecht | Total | Total | 173 | 50 | 7 | 2 | – | – | 50 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 232 | 67 |
| Belgrano | 2016–17 | Argentine Primera División | 20 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 3 |
| Belgrano | 2017–18 | Argentine Primera División | 24 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 5 |
| Belgrano | 2018–19 | Argentine Primera División | 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 2 |
| Belgrano | Total | Total | 57 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 67 | 10 |
| River Plate | 2018–19 | Argentine Primera División | 9 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 7 |
| River Plate | 2019–20 | Argentine Primera División | 21 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 35 | 9 |
| River Plate | 2020–21 | Argentine Primera División | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 4 |
| River Plate | 2021 | Argentine Primera División | 17 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 8 |
| River Plate | 2022 | Argentine Primera División | 20 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 9 |
| River Plate | 2023 | Argentine Primera División | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| River Plate | Total | Total | 79 | 33 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 35 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 122 | 44 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 309 | 97 | 18 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 89 | 20 | 5 | 2 | 421 | 121 |
* ↑ Includes Belgian Cup, Copa Argentina
* ↑ Includes Copa de la Superliga
* ↑ Includes Belgian Super Cup, Supercopa Argentina
* 1 2 Appearances in UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League
* 1 2 Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
* 1 2 Appearances in UEFA Champions League
* ↑ Appearances in Copa Sudamericana
* ↑ Appearances in Recopa Sudamericana
* 1 2 3 4 Appearances in Copa Libertadores

## Honours

Anderlecht
* Belgian Pro League: 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14
* Belgian Super Cup: 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014
River Plate
* Recopa Sudamericana: 2019
* Argentine Primera División: 2021, 2023
* Copa Argentina: 2019
* Supercopa Argentina: 2019
Individual
* Footballer of the Year in Jupiler League: 2011–12
* Belgian Golden Shoe: 2011