Luis Suarez, the first Spanish Ballon d’Or, dies

Luis Suarez, soccer legend and the first Spaniard to win the Ballon d’Or, died this Sunday at the age of 88 in the city of Milan (Italy), where he had lived since he signed for the Inter de Milan in 1961.

“A unique talent and a great man for Inter. The number 10 of Great Inter who took our colors to the roof of Italy, Europe, the World. ‘If you don’t know what to do, give the ball to Suarez'”, wrote the Nerazzurri team on his Twitter account, recalling a phrase that became famous in his glory years for the club.

Throughout his career, Suarez played seven seasons at FC Barcelona (1955-61) in which he won two Leagues and two national Cups and beat the Hungarian Ferenk Puskas in the Ballon d’Or vote in 1960. His signing for Inter, where he played nine seasons, until 1970, made him one of the first Spaniards to play for a foreign team. With the Nerazzurri club he won three Italian leagues and two European Cups (1964, 1965).

At the national team level, Suarez was called up by Spain on 32 occasions, scoring 13 goals and lifting the title of European champion in 1964. In 1973 he ended his sports career at Sampdoria, where he played three seasons. From then on, he began his career on the bench, first at Inter (1974-75), then at Deportivo de la Coruna (1978-79) and, finally, as the Spanish coach at the 1990 World Cup in Italy, where he led to ‘La Roja’ until the round of 16.