Barcelona and Inter legend Luis Suarez has died at the age of 88.
Despite the emergence of countless superstars over the decades that followed, Suarez remains the only male Spanish player to have won the prestigious Ballon d’Or.
The forward was also formerly the most expensive player in the world when Inter paid the equivalent of €166,000 to sign him from Barcelona in 1961, becoming the first Spaniard to play in Serie A.
The construction of Camp Nou, completed in 1957, had left Barcelona with little money to spend on new players at that time and so the world record sale of Suarez was an important boost.
Suarez started his senior career at local club Deportivo La Coruna as a teenager in the early 1950s. He then joined Barcelona at 19, initially spending a season with the reserve squad before becoming a regular in a golden team from 1955 onwards.
Although he went on to win more trophies with Inter after his 1961 transfer, Suarez collected his Ballon d’Or for his achievements with Barcelona in 1960. The club won La Liga for the second year in a row ahead of Real Madrid’s European Cup champions and lifted the Inter Cities Fairs Cup, an early forerunner to the Europa League and a competition that was of higher quality than today in a period were only one club per country was admitted into the European Cup.
Suarez’s switch to Italy saw him reunite with former Barcelona boss Helenio Herrera, one of the first superstar managers who guided Inter to Serie A titles in 1963, 1965 and 1966, as well as European Cup success in back-to-back seasons in 1964 and 1965. The Nerazzurri also won the Intercontinental Cup in both years, twice beating Argentine giants Independiente.
Herrera was famed as a proponent of defensive-minded catenaccio tactics, but preached to his players: "If you don't know what to do, give the ball to Suarez."
With Spain, Suarez was a European Championship winner in 1964, which proved to be the country’s last international silverware until a new golden generation took Euro 2008. He was a Ballon d’Or runner-up that year, having also finished second in 1961 and later placing third in 1965 to underline his status as one of the very best players in the world in the early years of that decade.
Suarez remained with Inter until 1970, before finishing his playing career with a short spell at Sampdoria and retiring altogether three years later. He remained close with Inter, serving as head coach over three spells over the 1970s and 1990s, his final stint as an interim. He was also present as Inter unveiled Ronaldo in 1997 following his world record transfer from Barcelona.
Other coaching jobs in Italy included Cagliari, SPAL and Como, with Suarez then spending an extended period back home in Spain, first with boyhood club Deportivo and then as Spain Under-21 boss for eight years and then the senior national team at the 1990 World Cup.
This article was originally published on 90min as Barcelona & Inter legend Luis Suarez dies aged 88.
