2023-07-09 13:23:40
Only two Spaniards have won the Ballon d’Or: Alfredo Di Stéfano (1957 and 1959) and Luis Suarez, in 1960. But the first winner was born in Argentina, which makes Suarez the first footballer born in Spain to have received this prestigious individual distinction. He was for a long time the only footballer born on Spanish soil to have won the Ballon d’Or before Alexia Putellas entered his name twice on the list of his female equivalent (2021, 2022).
Born in 1935, the former Inter and Barça player marked the history of football in Spain by winning Euro 1964 with La Roja, a tournament for which he was named best player, and thus became the first to win the Euro and European Champion Clubs’ Cup in the same season with Inter Milan.
“I was better on the pitch than as a coach”
On its website, Barça presents him as “a centerpiece of the club of the second half of the 1950s”, recognizing however that “his definitive explosion as a player took place later”. With the Catalan club, the midfielder had notably won two Spanish championships in 1959 and 1960 and two Spanish Cups, in 1957 and 1959.
Football legend Barça legend.
253 matches
141 goals
2 Leagues (1958/59 and 1959/60)
2 Cups of Spain (1956/57 and 1958/59)
2 Fairs Cup (1957/58 and 1959/60)
1 Golden Pilot (1960)We will miss you very much. Rest in peace, Luis Suárez Miramontes. ???? pic.twitter.com/5qxRUuiZht
– FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_cat) July 9, 2023
A disciple of Helenio Herrera in Catalonia, he followed the Argentinian naturalized French technician to Inter Milan in 1960, on the occasion of a transfer valued at 250 million lire, a world record for the time. In nine years in Lombardy, Suarez will have played nearly 333 games under the colors of Inter.
“The number 10 of Grande Inter who brought our colors to the roof of Italy, Europe and the world”, paid tribute to the Lombard club. With the Nerazzurri, he had won two Champions Leagues (formerly Champions Clubs Cup) in 1964 and 1965 as well as three Italian championships, in 1963, 1965 and 1966. Suarez remained as one of the major players in “the Grande Inter”, the most prosperous period in the history of the club, in the 1960s.
A unique talent and a great Inter fan.
The number 10 of the Grande Inter who brought our colors to the roof of Italy, Europe and the world.“If you don’t know what to do, give the ball to Suarez”.
Hi Luisito.#FCIM pic.twitter.com/odfKbe5TOh— Inter (@Inter) July 9, 2023
After his career, completed in Italy at Sampdoria Genoa, the adopted Milanese coached Inter three times (1974-1975, 1992, 1995) but also the Spanish selection (1988-1991), leading La Roja during the 1990 World Cup.
“I didn’t go very far as a coach, I was better on the pitch,” said after his last experience in 1995, the man who spent more than 22 years on the bench without ever being titled.
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