At 10:54 in the morning in the Montevideo capital, his friend Leo Messi’s plane landed on the main runway. It was the end of a vertiginous 24-day process, which deposited Luis Suárez and his family (Sofía, Delfina, Benjamín and Lautaro) in Uruguay, to play for the next 99 days in the club that saw him born, before the Cup of the World of Qatar.
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The country was revolutionized. There is no citizen, more or less interested in football, who does not generate some reference to Luis Suárez. The historical scorer of the sky blue, with 68 conquests, 35 years old, but in top form, returns to play for the country. A utopia, which became a reality.
On Messi’s plane
Nacional hired Messi’s plane to bring Suárez back from Barcelona. He did not return alone, he arrives accompanied by the family. First key detail. “Here are the uncles, the cousins. My children are super happy to come to live in Uruguay”, clarified the ‘gunman’. The family supported and added to the decision. Point in favor for the return.
15 kilometer caravan
Suárez’s first hour and a half in Uruguay was spent at the airport, surrounded by intimates and the leaders of Nacional. Also the first interview on the club’s official website, in which he confessed some stories.
“In March Chino (Alvaro) Recoba was talking to me, when I inaugurated the works (in his Sports Complex in Ciudad de la Costa, next to the capital Montevideo). And he told me, ‘it’s brave to come back, don’t do it’. When all this movement started a few days ago, I see a Chinese wap. He opened it, and Chino began to walk around, and in the end he tells me that it wouldn’t be bad to go back. He flipped over in the air!!!!”
Leo wished him luck
Suárez also revealed that “Lio (Messi) wrote to me. He wished me all the luck at this stage. He also wrote that it was good because he was going to be surrounded by family, by affection.”
At 12:30 noon, the caravan started, with a kind of “SUAREZMOVIL”, which traveled a good part of the Rambla Montevideo. It is worth clarifying that the concept of Rambla in Uruguay is different from that of Barcelona. Here the Rambla borders the entire coast of the Río de la Plata, for many kilometers.
People, with flags, t-shirts, papers, whatever was from Nacional, stood on the edge of the street to greet Suárez. A real madness.
In the Great Central Park
Around two in the afternoon, he arrived at Gran Parque Central, the historic stage where the first game in World Cup history was played. A great show had been prepared there, with musical shows, videos, emotions.
A reasonable entrance fee was charged, between 10 and 15 euros per person, and the stage, with capacity for just over 30,000 spectators, was practically full.
The “Loco” Sebastián Abreu, author of the decisive penalty for the Celestes in the match against Ghana for the quarterfinals in South Africa 2010, was the master of ceremonies in the very center of the playing field. Luis was surrounded by Sofía and her children.
He got excited. “I am here for you and because I want to be here”, she proclaimed, while the public exploded. “ I am convinced that we can win everything. The Clausura, the Uruguayan, the Uruguayan Cup, the South American Cup”, to the delight of the fans of the Uruguayan tricolor.
7,000 Suarez shirts
To measure the arrival of Luis Suárez at Nacional, a fact. Normally, about 10,000 T-shirts are sold by the institution per year. This Sunday, in parallel with the reception of the striker in the Central Park, 7,000 jerseys number “9” with Suárez on the back were put up for sale. And they went like hot cakes. They plan to sell at least 30 thousand in total. The rage is at its peak.
Nacional fans are at their best, the time of illusion, in which any dream is always greater than any reality. Almost in a cloud, still unable to prove that the return of Luis Suárez is a reality.
But it is a fact. After a very intense Sunday, preceded by a 12-hour flight from Barcelona, a Monday with light training will arrive.
May debut on Tuesday
On Tuesday he will go to court. He will start on the substitute bench, and if the forecasts are met, he could play a few minutes against the Brazilian Goianiense in the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana quarterfinals. It will be time on the field, and then Suárez will have to talk to his goals, the usual ones, those of Barcelona, Liverpool, Atlético de Madrid, Ajax, the sky blue. Those who were and those who will come.
