The Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez replay to Nationalclub where he made the training divisions and made his first division debut in May 2005.
A few weeks have passed since this Thursday, July 7, when the 35-year-old striker underlined ESPNF12 who caught his attention that the tricolor club did not communicate with him after his departure from Atlético de Madrid.
“I am a national fan. A month ago and I recently said my priority was in Europe, but a few days later River called me. The player needs affection and he likes you, that turns you on and that’s what turned me on about River; from Nacional there was not that and it caught my attention. If I opened the doors to River, why didn’t they try? I feel a little hurt”, assured Suárez in the interview with Mariano Closs.
Him #Suarez and his claim to the rulers of #National in #ESPNF12! pic.twitter.com/FPzCdxjpGX
— ESPN Uruguay (@ESPNUruguay) July 7, 2022
His remarks generated some annoyance among French supporters, who had never considered a return of the gunslinger as possible at that time; but these sentences also caused particular enthusiasm when they realized that the return was not as utopian as they believed.
Precisely, the first reaction of José Fuentes, president of Nacional, was to publicly express his joy to see that the tricolor club was an alternative, although distant and also real, for the future of Luis.
Tuesday July 12, the first telephone conversation between the manager and the footballer took place.
“In this conversation, Luis confirmed his unconditional love for Nacional. We were talking about a lot of things and he didn’t close any possibility, he evaluates all the possibilities and I had the impression that Nacional is a possibility. I made it clear that Nacional is his home and that it would be a great joy for all the fans if he could come back”, commented Fuentes during this first contact.
— Luis Suarez (@LuisSuarez9) July 26, 2022
From there, an expectation was generated that grew exponentially over the hours. And while Suárez has not been completely shut down by any offer he has received to bring about his priority to stay in Europe, French supporters have flooded the networks with their #SuarezANationalwith which they showed their affection and their great hope that this return could materialize.
The respectful exchange between Suárez and Fuentes became daily messages, then the president decided this Tuesday, July 19, to take a flight to Madrid for ‘express face to face to Suárez the importance that his return to Nacional would have‘.
“His family has already decided to go to Uruguay, we are very close, closer than we were on July 7,” said the French president in dialogue with Telemundo after meeting the footballer, and assured that they had to wait a few more hours to know Luis’ final decision.
The idea of returning became increasingly strong in the player, who, in the words of the tricolor president, was moved by the displays of affection from the pocket people.
And so, faced with the non-appearance of certain European clubs with the irresistible offer and faced with this madness of the tricolor supporters, the all-time top scorer of the Uruguayan national team confirmed that he would return to play in his country to defend the tricolor jersey once again.
In his first stage as a bag player, Suárez came to play 48 games, scoring fifteen goals (at official level there were 35 games and twelve goals). Suárez’s official debut was on May 3, 2005 playing against Junior in Barranquilla for CONMEBOL Libertadores and under the technical direction of Martín Lasarte.
And his first official goal was converted on September 10, 2005, against Paysandú for the opening tournament at the Gran Parque Central, stage where he came to play 17 games with Nacionalback to play there on October 7, 2021 in the match between Uruguay and Colombia for the Qualifiers to Qatar 2022.
His last match of this first cycle at Nacional took place on July 2, 2007 at the Franzini Stadium against Central Español for the Liguilla tournament. Nine days after that 1-1 draw (a goal from Chory Castro for Bolso and Juan Surraco for Palermitan), Suárez would transfer to Groningen in the Netherlands, having his first experience in Europe, where he later played for the Ajax Liverpool, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid.