Luis Suarez scored twice in his final game for Gremio, as the Brazilian club overcame Fluminense 3-2 in Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana Stadium on Wednesday.
The 36-year-old Uruguayan football icon, who has been linked with a move to Inter Miami to join close friend Lionel Messi, scored in the 43rd minute and added a second in the 64th minute with a cheeky panenka from the penalty spot.
Gremio finished second in the Brazilian league, two points behind champions Palmeiras, as the season concluded on Wednesday.
It was a fitting climax to Suarez’s brilliant season in Brazilian football, which he cut short after one season with Gremio because the calendar was too demanding for his ageing body.
Suarez captained Gremio in 2023, appearing in 54 of the club’s 64 matches and scoring 29 goals.
He finished the year as the second-highest goal scorer in the Brazilian league, with 17, leading downtrodden Gremio to an unexpectedly successful season.
Suarez has declined to comment on rumours connecting him to a move to Miami to join former Barcelona teammate Messi, claiming he wants to prioritise his family and health.
“I love this job, but it’s hard waking up in pain every morning,” he admitted last weekend. “I’m hard-headed and I want to keep playing, but I don’t know what comes next.”
Those remarks occurred after he scored the game-winning goal in Gremio’s 1-0 victory over Vasco in his final home match, earning an emotional standing ovation from the sold-out crowd.
Following a return to his boyhood club, Nacional, and a painful exit with Uruguay in the group stage of the 2022 World Cup, his tenure at Gremio could have been a poor swan song.
Instead, Suarez starred in the club’s first season back in the top flight following a traumatic relegation, helping them win the Rio Grande do Sul state championship and the state winners’ cup, the latter thanks to a Suarez hat trick.
Porto Alegre quickly became engulfed in “Suarezmania,” with the striker being declared an honorary citizen and receiving a medal from the state government.
Meanwhile, attendance at Gremio’s stadium more than doubled, and the team sold more shirts and other merchandise than ever before.
‘Hard to say “basta”‘ –
After Suarez declared his plans to depart in July, fans and local politicians tried to persuade him out of it.
Gremio’s good showing this season means they have qualified for the Copa Libertadores, South America’s equivalent of the Champions League, next year, making his exit much more difficult.
“I would have loved to have participated in that competition.” “However, my body is making the decisions,” Suarez explained.
“I require rest, recreation, and quiet time to think.” It’s difficult to say ‘basta’ (enough). Football players are never ready to retire.”