📍Salto, Uruguay
1987 – 1994“Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz was born in January 1987 in Salto, a city on the Uruguay river in the north-west of Uruguay, across the water from Argentina, the fourth of seven brothers. His father, Rodolfo, was a soldier and later a porter, and his mother, Sandra, worked as a cleaner. The family was poor, and Luis grew up in a crowded house with his brothers, playing football from morning until night in the dusty streets of Salto. The family could afford only one pair of shoes for him, his school shoes, so he played barefoot almost all the time, rather than miss a game. He was a fierce, determined boy who hated to lose. When he was seven, the family moved to Montevideo, the capital, looking for work, and soon afterwards his parents separated. It was a hard time, and money was even tighter, but football gave him a focus. He played for Urreta, a youth club in the city, and at eleven he was invited to a national youth camp but could not afford the trip. At fourteen he was selected by Nacional, one of Uruguay's biggest clubs, and while there he met Sofía Balbi, who later became his wife. He made his debut for Nacional in 2005, and moved to Groningen in the Netherlands in 2006, then to Ajax, Liverpool, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid, winning the European Golden Shoe twice and the Champions League with Barcelona in 2015. He became Uruguay's all-time top scorer, and he returned to Nacional in 2022. He has never forgotten Salto, where he learned to play barefoot.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
📍 Street view today