Suarez: The new hero at Nou Camp

For the second time in his career, Luis Suarez won the European Golden Boot. But this time, the joy was even more complete as he also lifted the La Liga championship trophy.

In the summer of 2004, a young foreign couple stood hesitantly outside the Nou Camp stadium. They wanted to go inside, but didn't have money for tickets. Seeing a gate slightly ajar, perhaps someone had gone out and forgotten to lock it, the young man said to the girl: "Let's just go in anyway."

The girl was hesitant, but the boy took her hand and pulled her inside. Just a few minutes later, they were in the Nou Camp stadium grounds without encountering a single security guard. The boy said to his girlfriend, "I dream of the day I'll play in this stadium, and you'll be sitting in the stands."

The boy was Luis Suarez, then only 17 years old and an unknown player for the youth team of Nacional (Uruguay). The girl was Sofia, his girlfriend whom he had met two years earlier in Montevideo. They fell in love at first sight. But just a year later, Sofia had to leave to move to Barcelona with her family because of her father's job. Suarez promised to visit and did everything he could to be close to his girlfriend. And that "clandestine" visit to the Nou Camp was the first time in his life Suarez had flown across the Atlantic.

Suarez and Sofia have had a beautiful, fairytale-like love story.

In 2006, Suarez agreed to move to Groningen in the Netherlands, simply because it was closer to Barcelona. And every time he visited Sofia, he would go to Camp Nou with her to watch a match (of course, on these occasions he always paid for the tickets).

Suarez was there, watching Gerard Pique raise all five fingers to taunt Real Madrid fans in Jose Mourinho's first El Clásico victory of 5-0. He was also there when Andres Iniesta scored the only goal against Espanyol in a Catalan derby. In another El Clásico, before Mourinho arrived, Suarez saw Fabio Cannavaro frantically running back to try and block a Lionel Messi chip shot, only to crash into the post. In yet another match, this time in the Champions League, Suarez turned to Sofia and said, "That guy is a hundred times better than you," after witnessing Messi complete a poker against Arsenal in Barca's 4-1 victory.

For Suarez, Barcelona was initially simply the city of his loved one. He went there just to visit Sofi. But over time, a strange bond formed between him and the city. Even after the scandal of biting Giorgio Chiellini's shoulder at the 2014 World Cup, Suarez seemed to be suffering from depression. He cried so much that Sofia, now his wife, had to take him to see a psychologist. Suarez cried because he feared his dream of playing for Barcelona would be shattered.

The 2013-2014 season had just ended, and he had won the European Golden Boot, but Liverpool missed out on the Premier League title due to Steven Gerrard's disastrous slip. Throughout the summer, even before the 2014 World Cup began, he anxiously awaited the completion of his transfer to Barcelona. However, a four-month ban from football due to his infamous biting incident put everything on the brink. Only after Barcelona agreed to finalize all the terms did Suarez breathe a sigh of relief. It was even rumored that the Spanish club had included a "no biting" clause in the contract before agreeing to sign the Uruguayan striker. Suarez later said: "If that clause had actually existed, I would have signed it anyway." That's one aspect that shows how much he loved the city and the club.

Suarez is making history with Barca. Photo: AP.

And yesterday, that love continued to bear fruit. He capped off this La Liga season by scoring all three goals in a 3-0 victory against Granada. With that hat-trick, Suarez finished the season with 40 goals, winning both the Pichichi and the European Golden Boot, breaking the dominance of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi that had lasted for more than half a decade.

Pique said, "It feels like we have to win La Liga twice this season." If that's the case, then Suarez single-handedly led Barca to their second title. This is because after Atletico Madrid leveled the score and Real Madrid narrowed the gap to just one point a month ago, Suarez single-handedly carried a despondent Barca team to victory.

In the final five league matches, Suarez scored... 14 goals and provided four assists. Ronaldo was comfortably leading the scoring charts, but before he knew it, Suarez had surged ahead as if he had rockets attached to his back. From the depths of a crisis of confidence after being eliminated from the Champions League and dropping a ten-point advantage in La Liga, Suarez dispelled the gloom with one of the most convincing performances in La Liga history. He scored a poker of goals and provided a hat-trick of assists to help Barca crush Deportivo La Coruna 8-0, and then scored another poker of goals in the very next match against Sporting Gijon. From then on, opponents knew it would be difficult to overthrow Barca.

Suarez, from the boy who sneaked into Camp Nou years ago, is now a hero of that pitch. He once only dared to dream of Sofia watching him play, but now he has achieved even more. In the Catalan derby against Espanyol in the penultimate round last week, his wife and two children were in the stands watching Suarez score a brace and provide an assist. And this summer, Suarez will officially return to the Uruguayan national team in a major tournament, the Copa America, after two years sidelined by a suspension. The sadness of two years ago has vanished in the blink of an eye. He achieved a treble in his first season, successfully defended his La Liga title, and won the Golden Boot in his second season.

Suarez single-handedly revived Barca during their most difficult period this season. Photo: Reuters.

As one of the most controversial players in history, Suarez certainly has many admirable qualities, such as the way he bounces back from setbacks and his unwavering love for his muse, Sofia.

According to VNE