Luis Suárez (footballer, born 1935) facts for kids

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Luis Suárez

Suárez with the Spain national team in 1961
Personal information
Date of birth	(1935-05-02)2 May 1935
Place of birth	A Coruña, Galicia, Spain
Date of death	9 July 2023(2023-07-09) (aged 88)
Place of death	Milan, Lombardy, Italy
Height	1.75 m
Playing position	Inside right, attacking midfielder
Youth career
	Perseverancia
1949–1953	Fabril
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1953–1954	Deportivo La Coruña	17	(3)
1954–1955	Condal	21	(6)
1955–1961	Barcelona	122	(62)
1961–1970	Inter Milan	256	(42)
1970–1973	Sampdoria	63	(9)
Total		479	(121)
National team
1957–1972	Spain	32	(14)
Teams managed
1973–1974	Genoa Primavera
1974–1975	Inter Milan
1975	Cagliari
1977	SPAL
1977–1978	Como
1978–1979	Deportivo La Coruña
1981–1989	Spain U21
1988–1991	Spain
1992	Inter Milan
1995	Albacete
1995	Inter Milan (interim)
Honours Representing  Spain European Nations' Cup Winner 1964 Spain
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Luis Suárez Miramontes ( 2 May 1935 – 9 July 2023) was a Spanish professional footballer and manager. He played as a midfielder for Deportivo de La Coruña, España Industrial, FC Barcelona, Inter Milan, Sampdoria and the Spain national team. Suárez is regarded as one of the greatest Spanish football players of all time. He was noted for his elegant, fluid, graceful style of play.

Nicknamed El Arquitecto – The Architect – or Luisito Suárez was noted for his perceptive passing and explosive shot; in 1960, he became the first and only male Spanish-born player to win the Ballon d'Or. In 1964, he helped Spain win the European Championship. Suárez originally achieved prominence as a creative inside forward, or attacking midfielder in modern terms, for the great Barcelona team of the 1950s before he joined Inter Milan where he reached his prime as deep-lying playmaker for the legendary Grande Inter team of the 1960s. He played a pivotal role in the success of Helenio Herrera's Inter Milan side, and was one of the primary creative forces in the squad, due to his skill on the ball, vision, and passing range. He retired as a player in 1973, after three seasons at Sampdoria.

Suárez subsequently began a career as a coach and has managed Inter Milan on three occasions, the last two on a caretaker basis. Suárez has also coached both Spain U21s and the senior Spain team. He was in charge of the latter for 27 games and led them to the second round of the 1990 World Cup. He has also coached several Italian and Spanish club sides. He died in Milan on 9 July 2023, aged 88.

Club career

Suárez's birthplace in Corunna

Early career

Luis Suárez Miramontes was born on 2 May 1935, in A Coruña, Galicia. He lived on Avenida de Hércules in the working-class neighborhood of Monte Alto where he was known by the diminutive Luisito.

He began his career with local side Deportivo de La Coruña in 1949 and worked his way through the junior sides before making his La Liga debut with Deportivo on 6 December 1953 in a 6–1 defeat to FC Barcelona. Among his teammates at Deportivo were Pahiño and Arsenio Iglesias. He played 17 games and scored 3 goals for Deportivo during the remaining season. In 1954, he was transferred to FC Barcelona but spent most of the 1954–55 season playing for their reserve side, España Industrial, in the second division.

Barcelona

Between 1955 and 1961, Suárez was a regular in a FC Barcelona team that also included the Hungarian trio Ladislao Kubala, Zoltán Czibor and Sándor Kocsis, alongside Ramallets and Evaristo. With Helenio Herrera as coach, the club and Suárez won a domestic league–cup double in 1959 and a league–Fairs Cup double the subsequent year. As a result, Suárez won the Ballon d'Or in 1960, as the first and to date only in Spanish-born football player. One of his last games for the club was the final of the European Cup in 1961 which they lost 3–2 to Benfica. For Barcelona, he scored 141 goals in 253 matches.

Inter Milan

Suárez with Inter Milan at San Siro in the mid-1960s

Suárez playing for Sampdoria in the early 1970s

In 1961, Suárez became the world's most expensive footballer when FC Barcelona sold him to Inter Milan for 25 million Spanish Pesetas (£152,000). The move saw him follow his mentor Helenio Herrera. Along with Juan Santisteban, he became the first Spanish player in Serie A.

Suárez was a regular in Herrera's Grande Inter team that won three Serie A titles, two consecutive European Cups and two Intercontinental Cups. Between 1961 and 1970 he made 328 appearances for Inter and scored 55 goals. On 10 March 1963, he scored three times in a 6–0 win over Genoa; this was the only hat-trick by a Spaniard in Serie A until Suso's for Genoa in 2016, to whom Suárez sent his congratulations.

Sampdoria

In 1970, he signed with Sampdoria where he ended his active football career in 1973.

International career

Suárez also played 32 games for Spain and scored fourteen goals. He made his debut on 30 January 1957 in a 5–1 victory over the Netherlands and represented Spain at both the 1962 and 1966 FIFA World Cups. However his greatest achievement with Spain came in 1964 when he Spain won the European Championship. He played his final game for Spain at almost 37 years of age in a draw with Greece in 1972.

Death

Suárez died on 9 July 2023, at the age of 88. Suarez’s death was announced by former Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti, who confirmed he had been hospitalized at the Ospedale Niguarda in Milan several days before his death.

Career statistics

Galician language plaque outside Suárez's birthplace: "In this house on 2 May 1935, the architect of football Luis Suárez was born".

Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Suárez goal.

List of international goals scored by Luis Suárez

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	10 March 1957	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid, Spain	Switzerland	1–1	2–2	1958 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	31 March 1957	Heysel, Brussels, Belgium	Belgium	2–0	5–0	Friendly
3				5–0
4	8 May 1957	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland	Scotland	2–2	2–4	1958 FIFA World Cup qualification
5	13 March 1958	Parc des Princes, Paris, France	France	2–1	2–2	Friendly
6	15 October 1958	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid, Spain	Northern Ireland	4–1	6–2	Friendly
7	28 June 1959	Silesian Stadium, Chorzów, Poland	Poland	1–1	4–2	UEFA Euro 1960 qualifying
8				3–1
9	22 November 1959	Mestalla, Valencia, Spain	Austria	2–0	6–3	Friendly
10				3–0
11	17 December 1959	Parc des Princes, Paris, France	France	1–0	3–4	Friendly
12	10 July 1960	Estadio Nacional, Lima, Peru	Peru	2–0	3–1	Friendly
13				3–0
14	26 October 1960	Wembley, London, England	England	2–2	2–4	Friendly

Honours

Suárez (foreground) celebrates the 1964–65 European Cup victory with his Nerazzurri teammates Facchetti, Peiró and Bedin

Player

Barcelona

• La Liga: 1958–59, 1959–60
• Copa del Generalísimo: 1957, 1958–59
• Inter-Cities Fairs Cup: 1955–58, 1958–60

Inter Milan

• Serie A: 1962–63, 1964–65, 1965–66
• European Cup: 1963–64, 1964–65
• Intercontinental Cup: 1964, 1965

Spain

• European Nations' Cup: 1964

Manager

Spain U21

• UEFA European Under-21 Championship: 1986

Individual

• Ballon d'Or: 1960
  • Silver Ball: 1961, 1964
  • Bronze Ball: 1965
• Eric Batty's World XI: 1963, 1964, 1965
• UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 1964
• Golden Foot: 2008, as football legend
• Marca Leyenda: 2016

Orders

• 
  Gold Medal of the Royal Order of Sporting Merit: 2001

See also

In Spanish: Luis Suárez Miramontes para niños