The Uruguayan international Luis Suárez played his last game in the Brazilian league this Wednesday and scored two goals in Grêmio’s 2-3 victory over Fluminense, which gave the team from Porto Alegre the runner-up spot in the tournament.
The former Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid player equalized the score in the 41st minute, after a pass from the Paraguayan Mathías Villasanti and after the Colombian Jhon Arias had put the Rio de Janeiro team ahead.
Suárez’s second goal and the third for Grêmio came in the 63rd minute, in a penalty suffered by the Uruguayan himself and which the striker took with the same diving style that made his former teammate Sebastián ‘el Loco’ Abreu famous.
Suárez also finished as the second scorer of the tournament with 17 goals, the same as Tiquinho Soares (Botafogo) and three behind Paulinho (Atlético Mineiro), who emerged as the top scorer.
Without giving any indication of what his future club will be in 2024, which seems to be Inter Miami, Suárez expressed his nostalgia for leaving the Brazilian team.
“It’s perfect to end the year with Grêmio because of everything that has happened. Closing a year at the Maracaná, the temple of world football, without having scored yet at the Maracaná, I think it has been great,” Suárez celebrated at the end of the match in statements to TV Globo.
The Uruguayan recalled that Grêmio, without renowned players and returning from the second division, “did the best for the fans,” who always supported them.
“My wife told me yesterday: ‘Go and have a lot of fun, because you deserve it for the year you’ve had in Brazil.’ That’s what I did today, I came to enjoy, have fun, score goals and help Grêmio to return to the Libertadores,” said Suárez.
In total there were 29 goals and 17 assists in all the tournaments played this year with Grêmio, a record that once again led him to be called up for his country’s national team.
Santos was relegated this Wednesday for the first time in the Brazilian league, after losing the last game at home 1-2 against Fortaleza, in a defeat that caused altercations with its fans and the burning of vehicles around the stadium.
In its first year without the eternal idol Pelé, who died on December 29, 2022, Santos left the select group that had never been relegated in the Brazilian league, a privilege that is now only held by Flamengo, São Paulo and Cuiabá, which premiered in 2021.
With the disappointment of their first relegation in history, the Santos fans invaded the field, but the police force contained the horde. However, the riots moved to the surroundings of the Vila Belmiro stadium and the angry fans vandalized some commercial premises and set fire to at least two buses and several private cars, according to a partial report from the Police.
