And one day the ‘Last Dance’ will really be the last. And even though it seems like a lie to say it, Luis Suarez (37) withdraws from the Sky blueHe confirmed this on Monday at a press conference specially called to make the announcement. On Friday against Paraguay, in the South American Qualifiers, in Montevideo, in the Centenario of his dreams, will be the last match. And that’s it. And that’s it. Because time is a tyrant and one day it leaves us without our idols.
He made his debut in 2007 against Colombia in Cúcuta in February, and in September he was a starter alongside Diego Forlán at the start of the road to South Africa 2010. And in less than ten minutes, he scored his first goal for the Celeste. From then on he did not stop: 17 years in the first level.
Four World Cups, from 2010 to Qatar 2022. Five Copa Américas, with the grand slam in Argentina 2011. Top scorer with the Celeste, 69 goals in 142 matches. Plus, dozens of assists. Always key, always a winner.
Luis Suárez steps aside and leaves the Celeste
Another performance in the World Cup in Qatar would have meant his retirement after 2002. But the frustration of the last Cup, in such a competitive spirit, forced him to seek revenge in the last Copa America. He was called up at the last minute (he found out on a Saturday that he had to show up on Sunday at the Palm Beach, Miami, training camp), he played little, but in the last match against Canada, he was again called to rescue a Uruguay that was falling in the match for third and fourth place. In stoppage time he scored the 2-2, and the Charrúas won on penalties. Yesterday, today and always, Suárez to the rescue.
He was not indispensable for Bielsa
Now, at full competitive level, with a consistent goal-scoring streak, when nobody, including Marcelo Bielsa, wants him to retire, he found the right moment to announce his departure from the Celeste. At the top, on high, a reflection of his entire career.
It cannot be argued that Suárez is indispensable for Bielsa, even if the Argentine coach’s comments may establish otherwise. But the facts, irrefutable, say otherwise. In the first 15 games of the Bielsa era, Luis was only on the field for 26 minutes. Then he played against Colombia in the semi-finals of the Copa América, in the most important game of this entire cycle, for only 23 minutes. And finally, the second half against the Canadians in the last game of the Cup. In total, he was called up to 8 games by Marcelo Bielsa, but only played 94 minutes. Clearly, in reality, he is not a priority for Bielsa.
Luis Suarez fans outside the Centenario Stadium
Why is he leaving now? “I’m retiring because I want to step aside,” he said last night. “I’ve earned the right to decide. What better than to make the decision myself, and not others for me, or if my physical condition doesn’t allow it,” he said at another point in the press conference. Quick read: Luis knows that his end is near, that reaching the 2026 World Cup is a somewhat distant goal, and he prefers to retire himself, rather than someone else (Marcelo Bielsa?) retiring him.
Suarez broke down several times during the 50-minute press conference in front of more than 200 journalists. Every time he mentioned his children, he shed tears, even though his wife, Sofia, had previously told him “not to cry at the conference.”
He singled out Maestro Tabarez, the coach who gave him his debut in the Celeste in 2007, and who stayed for the following 14 years, marking the importance in his life. And he made no mention of the Argentine Marcelo Bielsa, the current coach of Uruguay.
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He confessed, in response to a question from MD, that his greatest fear was being remembered by people for the bite he gave Chiellini in the 2014 World Cup. “But I turned the situation around. I, for example, have already forgotten.” Suárez, the fighter for life, the one who fell a thousand times and got up two thousand times, will be a legend as of Friday. With his retirement, a part of our lives is gone. We remember each goal associated with the most intimate of our feelings.
