Luis Suárez Miramontes

Luis Suárez Miramontes (2 May 1935 – 9 July 2023), commonly known as Luis Suárez, was a Spanish footballer and manager. He mainly played as a midfielder for Barcelona and Inter Milan during the 1950s and 1960s, and was capped 32 times for Spain. He was thought to be one of the best Spanish footballers of all time, and one of the best midfielders of all time. In 1960, he became the first Spanish-born player to win the Ballon d'Or. He also helped Spain win their first European Championship in 1964.

After he retired from playing football, he became a manager. He was the manager of Inter Milan three times, including twice as an interim manager, as well as Cagliari, Como, and Deportivo La Coruña. He also managed Spain at the 1990 FIFA World Cup. He died in Milan in July 2023, at the age of 88.

Club career
Early carrer and Deportivo La Coruña
Suárez was born on 2 May 1935, in A Coruña, Galicia. He started playing football in the streets of A Coruña, using a ball made out of rags.

Starting in 1945, he played for many different youth teams, including AC Santo Tomás, Hercules de la Coruna, and Perseverancia (a local team that was run by the Santo Tomás parish). By 1951, he had joined Deportivo La Coruña, after passing a trial. He had learned about the trial after reading an advertisement in La Voz de Galicia that was placed by Deportivo's manager Alejandro Scopelli.

He played for Deportivo's youth academy and reserve team, Deportivo Fabril, before he was promoted to their first team for the 1953–54 La Liga season. He made his debut for Deportivo on 6 December 1953, in a 6–1 loss against Barcelona. He played 17 games for Deportivo in his only season there, and scored three goals.

Barcelona
In March 1954, Suárez joined Barcelona, along with team-mate Dagoberto Moll. The transfer fee was reported to be 600,000 pesetas. He made his Barcelona debut in the 1954 Copa del Generalísimo on 2 May 1954, which was his 19th birthday, in a 4–0 win against Deportivo La Coruña. He played in most of the matches in the tournament, as Barcelona would lose to Valencia in the final. He did not play many matches during the 1954–55 season under manager Sandro Puppo. Instead, he played for Barcelona's reserve team, España Industrial, in the second division. 

During the next few seasons, he began to establish himself as a regular starter. However, some of his coaches considered him "too frail" physically, with manager Ferenc Plattkó making him do an extra work-out on a punching bag in order to increase his muscle mass. 

After Helenio Herrera was hired as Barcelona's manager at the start of the 1958–59 season, Suárez was moved to the left inside forward position, where he became one of the most important players in the team. Suárez won two doubles with Barcelona under Herrera, winning the league and cup in the 1958–59 season, and the league and Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in the 1959–60 season. However, during this time, Suárez's relationship with Barcelona fans began to get worse because fans believed there was a rivalry between him and László Kubala. This caused Suárez to start getting booed by his own fans in every game he played.

On 9 November 1960, he scored the 1000th goal in European Cup history, in a 2–2 draw against El Clásico rivals Real Madrid. In December 1960, Suárez won the Ballon d'Or, which was awarded by French magazine France Football, with a total of 54 votes. This meant he became the first and only Spanish-born footballer to ever win the award, until Alexia Putellas won the women's award in 2021, and Rodri won the men's award in 2024. Suárez received the Ballon d'Or on 9 March 1961, a few minutes before the start of a European Cup match against Spartak Hradec Králové.

Suárez's last match for Barcelona was the 1961 European Cup final against Benfica, where they lost 3–2. In total, Suárez played 253 matches for Barcelona across seven seasons, scoring 141 goals.

Inter Milan

On 26 May 1961, five days before the European Cup final, Barcelona and Italian club Inter Milan reached an agreement for the transfer of Suárez. The transfer fee was 25 million Spanish pesetas, which was around £152,000. This transfer made Suárez the most expensive footballer in the world, passing the record of Omar Sívori's transfer from River Plate to Juventus in 1957. This transfer meant he was also one of the first Spanish footballers to play in Serie A, along with Juan Santisteban. This transfer has been considered one of the most controversial decisions in Barcelona's history, as the transfer fee was used to pay off the team's debts from building the Camp Nou. 

He made his debut for Inter Milan and scored his first goal on 27 August 1961, in a 6–0 win against Atalanta. He later finished second in the 1961 Ballon d'Or, finishing behind Omar Sívori.

At the start of the 1962–63 season, manager Herrera moved Suárez to a deep-lying playmaker role. This change helped him become a key player of the Grande Inter team of the 1960s, which was known for its counter-attacking style of play. On 10 March 1963, he scored a hat-trick in a 6–0 win against Genoa. This made him the first Spanish footballer to score a hat-trick in Serie A, and the only one to do it until Suso scored a hat-trick against Frosinone in 2016. At the end of the 1962–63 season, Suárez won his first league title with Inter Milan.

In the 1963–64 season, Inter Milan lost the Serie A title to Bologna in a final tie-breaker. Despite this, Suárez helped them win the European Cup that season. In the semi-finals against Borussia Dortmund, he caused controversy when he violently kicked an opposing player and injured him, and referee Branko Tesanić decided against sending off Suárez. He later played in the final, where they beat Real Madrid 3–1 in Vienna.

In September 1964, helped Inter Milan win the 1964 Intercontinental Cup, with a 1–0 win after extra time against Independiente in the play-off match. In December, he finished second in the 1964 Ballon d'Or, behind winner Denis Law. Suárez publicly talked about his disappointment over this result multiple times during his life. He would help Inter Milan win the 1964–65 Serie A title, and the 1964–65 European Cup against Benfica.

On 25 August 1965, Suárez took part in an exhibition match against his former club Barcelona at the Camp Nou. In the 38th minute of the match, he unexpectedly left the field, having received boos from Barcelona fans since the start of the match. As he left, he made a bras d'honneur gesture towards the Barcelona fans before reaching the exit, which he would regret later in life. In September of that year, he helped Inter Milan beat Independiente to win their second Intercontinental Cup in a row. In December, he finished third in the 1965 Ballon d'Or, behind team-mate Giacinto Facchetti and winner Eusébio. During the 1965–66 season, Suárez scored five goals as Inter Milan won their second league title in a row. He also helped them reach the 1965–66 European Cup semi-finals, where they lost to Real Madrid.

In May 1967, Suárez missed the European Cup final because of an injury. Inter Milan would lose the final 2–1 against Celtic. Inter Milan also lost the 1966–67 Serie A to Juventus on the last day of the season, and to Padova in the Coppa Italia semi-finals.

During his last season at Inter Milan, he was played as a sweeper. This caused his performances to decline, as he scored only one goal in Serie A. In total, Suárez played 333 matches for Inter Milan across nine seasons, scoring 55 goals.

Sampdoria and retirement
In July 1970, Suárez was signed by Serie A club Sampdoria. The transfer was a swap deal that saw Mario Frustalupi join Inter. He played three seasons with Sampdoria, and scored 13 goals in 73 games, before he stopped playing professional football in 1973, at the age of 38.

International career

Suárez earned 32 caps for Spain, and scored 14 goals. He made his debut on 30 January 1957 in a 5–1 victory over the Netherlands. He played for Spain at the 1962 and 1966 FIFA World Cups, and at the 1964 European Nations' Cup, which Spain won. 

He played his final game for Spain in 1972, in a draw against Greece.

Managerial career
Suárez was the manager of Inter Milan for part of the 1974–75 season. He also managed them as an interim manager during the 1991–92 and 1995–96 seasons. He also worked as the manager of Cagliari, SPAL and Como in Italy, and Deportivo La Coruña and Albacete in Spain.

International
In 1981, the Royal Spanish Football Federation hired him as manager of Spain's under-21 national team. With them, Suárez won the 1986 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, and reached the final of the 1984 edition.España gana el Campeonato de Europa sub 21 elpais.com

In 1988, he was appointed the manager of Spain's national team,Luis Suárez, nuevo seleccionador español elpais.com and managed them at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, where they got eliminated by Yugoslavia in the round of 16. On 29 April 1991, he was fired from the Spanish national team because of bad results during UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying, and replaced by Vicente Miera.Villar destituyó anoche a Suárez como seleccionador español elpais.com

Personal life
Suárez had two older brothers, José and Agustín, who also both played football. He grew up in the barrio of Monte Alto, where his family owned a butcher shop.

Suárez married his first wife, Nieves, in 1967 and had two children with her. His younger son was born with congenital cleft palate, and died in 1977, aged seven. After having a divorce, he married his second wife, Valentina (died 2020). 

In the early 2000s, he began to work as a guest pundit for sports programmes on Italian and Spanish television networks. In 2014, he joined Cadena SER's radio programme Carrusel Deportivo, where he worked as a commentator and analyst for Barcelona matches.

On 20 November 2001, Suárez was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Order of Sporting Merit by the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport for his sporting merits.

In July 2015, Suárez donated his Ballon d'Or trophy to the FC Barcelona Museum, as part of the museum's 30th anniversary. 

Death
Suárez died on 9 July 2023, at the age of 88. Former Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti broke the news. He said that Suárez was taken to the Ospedale Niguarda in Milan days before he died.

A public funeral was held for Suárez on 11 July, at the Saint Joseph Calasanz Church in Milan. The service was attended by football fans and representatives from Barcelona (vice-president Rafa Yuste and Juan Manuel Asensi), Inter Milan (Gianfranco Bedin, Massimo Moratti, and Giuseppe Marotta) and Real Madrid (Emilio Butragueño). Also, Deportivo La Coruña, Real Madrid, and the Royal Spanish Football Federation all sent flower garlands to pay their respects to Suárez.

Career statistics
Club
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueCupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals Deportivo La Coruña1953–54La Liga173–––173Barcelona1953–54La Liga–70––70España Industrial1954–55Segunda División87–––87Barcelona1954–55La Liga6311––741955–56La Liga17520––1951956–57La Liga211320––23131957–58La Liga1226522–2091958–59La Liga26149610–36201959–60La Liga231320111–36141960–61La Liga171000115–2815Total1226029122580017680Inter Milan1961–62Serie A27110054–32151962–63Serie A29810115–3081963–64Serie A2631091–3641964–65Serie A29831923044111965–66Serie A2752070203851966–67Serie A3232191–4351967–68Serie A29291––3831968–69Serie A29100––2911969–70Serie A28151101–433Total256422344995033355Sampdoria1970–71Serie A28532––3171971–72Serie A27441––3151972–73Serie A8031––111Total63910400007313Career total4661216220791700627158

International
+ Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsSpain195764195832195955196073196110196220196310196420196520196620196700196800196900197000197100197210Total3214

+ List of international goals scored by Luis SuárezNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1  10 March 1957  Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid, Spain  1–1 2–2  1958 FIFA World Cup qualification2 31 March 1957 Heysel, Brussels, Belgium  2–0 5–0 Friendly3 5–04  8 May 1957  Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland  2–2 2–4  1958 FIFA World Cup qualification5  13 March 1958  Parc des Princes, Paris, France  2–1 2–2  Friendly6  15 October 1958  Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid, Spain   4–1 6–2  Friendly7 28 June 1959 Silesian Stadium, Chorzów, Poland 1–1 4–2 UEFA Euro 1960 qualifying8 3–19 22 November 1959 Mestalla, Valencia, Spain  2–0 6–3 Friendly10 3–011  17 December 1959  Parc des Princes, Paris, France  1–0 3–4  Friendly12 10 July 1960 Estadio Nacional, Lima, Peru 2–0 3–1 Friendly13 3–014  26 October 1960  Wembley, London, England  2–2 2–4  Friendly

Honours

Player
Barcelona
La Liga: 1958–59, 1959–60
Copa del Generalísimo: 1957, 1958–59
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup: 1955–58, 1958–60
 European Cup runner-up: 1960–61

Inter Milan
Serie A: 1962–63, 1964–65, 1965–66
European Cup: 1963–64, 1964–65
Intercontinental Cup: 1964, 1965

Spain
 European Nations' Cup: 1964

Manager
Spain U21
 UEFA European Under-21 Championship: 1986; runner-up: 1984Inglaterra 2–0 España, BDFutbol

 Individual 
Ballon d'Or: 1960
 Runner-up: 1961, 1964
 Third place: 1965
Eric Batty's World XI: 1963, 1964, 1965
FUWO European Team of the Year: 1965
UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 1964
Golden Foot: 2008, as football legend
Marca Leyenda: 2016
Ballon d'Or Dream Team nominee: 2020
IFFHS Men's All-Time Spain Dream Team: 2022

 Orders 

Notes

References

Other websites




 International Stats

Category:1935 births
Category:2023 deaths
Category:Spanish footballers
Category:Spanish football managers
Category:Sportspeople from A Coruña
Category:FC Barcelona players
Category:Serie A players
Category:Ballon d'Or winners
Category:1962 FIFA World Cup players
Category:1966 FIFA World Cup players
Category:Spain at the 1962 FIFA World Cup
Category:Spain at the 1966 FIFA World Cup
Category:Spain at the 1990 FIFA World Cup