Luis Suarez will go down as one of the absolute greatest Uruguayan footballers ever. Maybe even the greatest – of course, Uruguay are two-time World Cup winners, so there’s a lot to contend with here.
But there’s no question that Suarez is the face of his country’s resurgence in world football. He’s helped put them back on the map, while also carving out a reputation as one of the world’s greatest players.
He’s now coming to the end, though. Suarez returned to Uruguay’s squad this week after being left out since the 2022 World Cup. It felt like something of a farewell tour and he entered the match against Bolivia to immense applause on Tuesday evening.
Suarez came on after 73 minutes for Darwin Nunez – who had wrapped the game up with a brace. The Liverpool striker has been in remarkable form since Marcelo Bielsa took over, picking up another two goals here.
And so as Suarez talked after the game, it was no great surprise that he mentioned Nunez as his natural successor. He’s handing over to one of the world’s best, he says.
“I’m in a role that leaves me very happy, trying to help with what I can,” he said, per ESPN. “I have one of the best 9s in the world going forward, which is Darwin Nunez, you have to take advantage of it and enjoy it.
“What I have to do is contribute to what I can.”
It always looked near-impossible for Uruguay to replace Suarez. Nunez, though, might just be able to do it and his form this season certainly puts him up there with the best around.
Liverpool will benefit from that, too, of course. They haven’t actually had an elite goal-scoring centre-forward since Suarez, after all, but his compatriot is in place to be exactly that for club and country.
