The death of Luis Suárez, a football myth, the first Spanish star to cross borders, has caused endless reactions both in Spain and in Italy, where he achieved his greatest successes with Inter Milan. From clubs and former soccer players to journalists and politicians. Everyone wanted to say goodbye to the ‘architect’, the only Spanish male Ballon d’Or, who is also remembered for his human quality.
“The perfect footballer who, with his talent, has inspired generations. Ciao Luisito,” the Nerazzurri club announced his death, which continued to praise its idol online: “The number 10 of the Grande Inter who brought our colors to the top of Italy, Europe and the world”.
Inter president Steven Zhang and coach Simone Inzhagi also paid tribute to the Spaniard. “You have been greatness, elegance, class. A gentleman, a legend, a symbol of our beloved Inter. Forever and ever, a smile that is impossible to forget,” wrote Javier Zanetti, Inter’s icon in the 90s and 2000s. The Milan, eternal sporting enemy of the interistas, added to the goodbye of what was his “great rival”.
Before forging his legend in the transalpine country, he made his fortune at Barça, who also remembered the Galician. “Legend of football. Legend of Barça. We will miss you very much. Rest in peace,” said the Blaugrana club, in addition to remembering the six titles he won with the team and his goals in seven seasons. “Excellent footballer who will be forever remembered by all Barcelona fans,” said the Blaugrana president, Joan Laporta.
The other giant of Spanish football was no less in the goodbye of the A Coruña. “Real Madrid, its president and its Board of Directors deeply regret the death of Luis Suárez, one of the greatest legends of Spanish football and world football,” said the white club, which expressed “its condolences and affection for his relatives. , to his teammates, to his loved ones and to all his clubs”.
FIFA, the Spanish Federation, LaLiga, the CSD and the Spanish Olympic Committee, among other institutions, did not forget the former soccer player, in the same way that Spanish clubs such as Valencia, Sevilla, Athletic Club, Real Sociedad, Villarreal , Girona, Rayo Vallecano, Osasuna, Celta, Getafe and Cádiz.
The team in which the former forward made his professional debut, Deportivo de la Coruña, defined him as a “legend of sportsmanship”, while Sampdoria, where he hung up his boots and occupied “a special place in the hearts of the fans”, gave him he said goodbye with a brief “ciao Luis”.
Also former players, especially those he had under his orders during his time as coach, dedicated a few words to him. “He trusted me in the under-21 team and to be European champion, to later go on to the senior team. Thanks for everything, mister,” said former Barcelona player Ramon Maria Calderé, continental under-21 champion in 1986 with the Galician on the bench .
“He is not only a legend of world football but a Ballon d’Or as a person. A lover of his football and how to play it. Now perhaps justice will be done to him as a footballer,” ex-Madridista Míchel González wrote about Suárez, whom he had as a coach in the under-21 team and in the senior team.
Outside the field of football, the president of the Xunta de Galicia, Alfonso Rueda, described the former striker from A Coruña as a “Galician benchmark for international football”, in addition to remarking that “he marked the path of many footballers who came later”. The candidate for the PP in the next general elections on July 23 and president of the Xunta between 2009 and 2022, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, pointed out the “impressive legacy” of Suárez, “a football legend at all levels and responsibilities”.
