The pantomime villain of English football, termed as a ‘racist’, ‘cheat’, ‘disrespectful’, to name a few adjectives, and worshiped unanimously by the Liverpool faithful, he is one who divides opinion firmly into two: Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz. Despite all this, all of the footballing fraternity is well aware of his skil with the ball. Silky footwork, quick dribbling, lazy nutmegs and spectacular goals are the hallmarks of his game. Inspite of being in a Liverpool team languishing in the middle of the table, far from its previous glories, he still leads the Premier League scoring record for the 2012-13 season. With a fiery passion and ferocious arrogance, he isn’t a footballer known for showing some of the gentler emotions.
This changed on a cold evening by the Merseyside, when the rivals of yore met for the derby game. On having his goal disallowed, he just smiled ruefully and carried on with the game rather than launching into a tirade on the referee. When an Everton fan threw a coin at the Uruguayan Hitman., then instead of giving one of his usual mocking reactions, Luis quietly picked up the coin and tucked it safely into his boot.
When questioned about his act post game, he mentioned that he’d been raised in a poor South American family where his family barely managed to have money for food. Buying studs for football practice was a far off dream, and money was something which had never come freely to him. Situation had taught him respect for the travails of life.
The World had seen a different side of Luis Suarez, the man the media loves to hate. The one who holds the hearts of a million Liverpool fans all over. For the all the clubs, he may be a villain, for the KOP, he is their Hero.
Not the hero they need, but the Hero they deserve right now. Nothing less than an Angel in Red. Shining.
Late Night Kickoff 