Luis Suárez arrived home in Liverpool expecting a champion’s embrace. Earlier that day, he had scored four goals against Norwich City at Anfield, on December 4, 2013, a date any footballer would keep as a trophy.
But Sofía Balbi, his wife, didn’t say a single word that night. Not even a “congratulations”, not even a “what a game”. Nothing.
The next day, she explained it to him, and Suárez told it this way: “To the world, he could be Luis Suárez, but at home he was still the same as ever”. And he added something that sums it all up: “At home, I’m not the goalscorer, I’m the dad, the husband, the one who washes the dishes”.
Today, at 38 years old and as Uruguay’s all-time leading scorer with 69 goals, he is still playing for Inter Miami. But that night in Liverpool, he learned that glory stays on the pitch.