The Original Luis Suárez

Will the real Luis Suárez please stand up?

When someone says 'Luis Suárez' the vast majority of people, both football fans and not, will think of the prolific, opposition-biting, Liverpool and Barcelona legend whose goalscoring records are as infamous as his off-the-ball antics. 

But he's not the only Luis Suárez to rip it up for the Catalan giants. 

Born in Spain in 1935, Luis Suárez Miramontes joined Deportivo La Coruña's youth ranks in 1949, where he played for four seasons before being promoted to the first team.

His first season as a senior footballer was a success, scoring three times in 17 appearances as an attacking midfielder/second striker.

Young Luis started to attract the attention of the Spanish giants, with Valencia and Real Madrid sniffing around the teenager. But it would be Barcelona to secure his signature. 

Suárez wasn't an instant success with La Blaugrana as he struggled to play consistent league football. With his issues apparently being rooted in his frail figure. 

Suárez had a decent few campaigns in the three seasons following his Barcelona league debut, making 19, 23 and 20 appearances respectively, picking up a Copa del Rey and Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in the process. 

But his real breakout campaign was the 1958/59 season, as under the tutelage of new manager Helenio Herrera, Luis scored 20 goals and assisted 5 in 35 games as Barcelona clinched a league and cup double.

Suárez was now not only recognised as one of the best players in Barcelona, but as one of the best players in the world. However, controversially, at the time, was not loved by his own fans. 

Barcelona had another star player in László Kubala, who had fallen out of favour with Herrera in 1960. The reason for which was largely unknown, but fans blamed Suárez, fabricating that it was a cocktail of favouritism and Suárez's lack of ability to utilise his Hungarian teammate as the reason why he was being snubbed.

How did Suárez win the fans back you ask? He played a key role in Barcelona lifting the 1959/60 La Liga title. In fact, he played so well that season he was bestowed with the 5th annual Ballon d'Or for the year of 1960. 

Prior to Suárez being awarded the Ballon d'Or, only forwards had won the award, marking Suárez as the first midfielder to get his hands on the golden ball. 

But this wasn't the only first, as Suárez was the first Barcelona and Spanish player to win the award. And at 25, became, at the time, the youngest player to be presented the famous trophy.

Suárez's title as the "only Spanish player to win the men's Ballon D'or" held strong for 64 years before fellow countryman Rodri won the award only last year.

The year in which Suárez won the Ballon d'Or was the year of his final season with Barcelona. The 1960/61 campaign was a cruel one for Barcelona and Suárez, as La Blaugrana went trophy-less, finishing fourth in the league and losing 3-2 in the European Cup Final to Benfica. 

It wouldn't have been the way the Spaniard would've wanted to bow out, but he left Barcelona as a club legend with six years of service and seven trophies to his name.

His next destination? The San Siro. But for who Chris Kamara? Inter Milan Jeff!

Yes, for a then record transfer fee of around 152,000 pounds, Luis Suárez joined I Nerazzuri and became the first Spanish player to play in the Italian first division. The move also saw Suárez reunite with previous manager Helenio Herrera.

Inter went trophy-less in the 1961/62 season but Suárez had an impressive debut campaign playing 31 times and scoring 15 goals as he finished as runner-up in the Ballon d'Or ranking. 

The following season, Herrera adopted a more counterattacking style of play, dropping Suárez into a deep-lying playmaker role. That season's Inter side were dubbed 'Grande Inter' and were victorious in the league, winning their first Serie A title in nine years.

Inter Milan did not manage to retain their Serie A crown in the 1963/64 campaign but managed to win the club's first European Cup. Suárez did not only become a European champion at club level that season he also became a European champion with Spain, as he helped his country beat the USSR in the final of the European Nations' Cup to claim their, and his, first international title. His roles in both tournaments contributed to him once again finishing as runner-up in the 1964 Ballon d'Or. 

The trophies didn't slow down for I Nerazzuri or Suárez the next season either, as Inter won a makeshift treble of the League, European Cup and Intercontinental Cup. Suárez once again played a forefront role in each trophy and was voted the best player that season by the Italian Sporting Press. 

Suárez played a further four seasons at the San Siro, collecting another League and Intercontinental title, before his performances and subsequent minutes started to decline with age. 

But the multiple record holder wasn't done just yet, as in July of 1970, he signed for Sampdoria. At La Samp, Suárez was allowed to return to his favoured midfield position, where he thrived in a pivot alongside Ex AC Milan legend Giovanni Lodetti. 

Suárez played in Marassi for three years, keeping Sampadoria in the top flight on each occasion, before finally retiring at the conclusion of the 1972/73 season.

Following his retirement, Suárez partook in a tumultuous managerial career, notably managing his previous employers Inter Milan on three separate occasions in 1974/75, 1992 and 1995. 

His only title as a manager came with the Spanish Under-21s in 1986 as they won the Under-21 European Championship.

There's been some great Spanish midfielders, and one other great player called Luis Suárez, but this man paved the way for both. 

Hats off to you, Luis. Rest in power.