Luis Suarez's mother reveals some of the secrets of Barça star's childhood

Luis Suarez didn't have an easy start in football, as his mother, Sandra Diaz, remembers in a report published in the magazine Panenka which looks into the Uruguayan's family and football origins. 

From a humble family, Suarez began playing football bare-footed on the streets as the only footwear he had was reserved for school. "The only shoes he had were for school, not for playing football. So he usually played without footwear so as not to miss games (...)," his mother says. 

Suarez always demonstrated a special ambition, even when he had to display his qualities after recently arriving in Montevideo. He tried his luck at a club "of wealthy people" his mother remembers, Club Urreta. 

"I took him one night and they told me they'd made me the selection, because they had to cut 20 or 30 down to 15 or 16. Then I went to the coach and told him the siutation, that I'd come from Salto and Maxi, Luis' brother, convinced him that Luis was a great goal scorer. 'Ah, he scores goals? Good, we'll try him. Bring him on Thursday and we'll see, but I can't promise anything,' the manager responded," remembers Sandra in Panenka. 

His first game in his first club in Montevideo was played in Lagomar: his team was losing 2-0 and in the second half the coach put Luis Suarez on. He ended up scoring four goals. He was only seven.

'CHEO', 'MEME' Y 'EL SALTA'

In addition, his mother also revealed what the family called the young Luis Suarez: they called him 'Cheo' because when he was born there was a popular soap opera in which there appeared a baby called 'Cheito' and his siblings named him after that. Later on, his team-mates dubbed him 'Meme' and after that, now in Montevideo, he was known as 'El Salta', after the city he was born in in 1987. 

OBJECTIVE: ANNOY THE GOALKEEPER 

"I never had to call him in the morning to go to training. He got up on his own, he was always responsible, raining or not. If he didn't have money for travel, he'd manage to convince someone to take him," his mother says. 

Sandra also revealed that her son was pure ambition from a young age: "He hated losing. He got angry when he couldn't score goals, he hated to lose. His impatience always led him to use the same tactic, which was to get in front of the goalkeeper and try to fight him for the ball." 

LITTLE ATTACHMENT TO SALTO 

However, Suarez didn't have much of an attachment to his hometown because he basically grew up in Uruguay's capital. His mother confesses: "He said, 'I go to Salto and I don't even know the streets,' and there are people who haven't forgiven him for [saying] that." 

SANDRA'S TEARS 

Suarez told his mother he was going to play in Holland in a particular way: "One day I called him and he told me he was meeting with some Dutch [teams]. I couldn't believe it. Are you pulling my leg? I asked him. He's a joker and I thought that he was tricking me. But later, I was in the hospital because my daughter had given birth, he called me: 'I'm going to Holland on Monday'. Like that, bang. I walked home and I spent the whole time crying, thinking that he was only 19."