Luis Suarez and his wife Sofia Balbi have been together for over two decades.

In the eyes of many, striker Luis Suarez is considered a “violent” player, having bitten opposing players on the field three times and receiving suspensions. However, for Sofia Balbi, Suarez is the “most wonderful” gentleman. It’s thanks to Suarez’s sincerity and effort that their love story has overcome obstacles, lasting for over two decades up to the present time.

A love story of contrasting backgrounds

Suarez first met Sofia in 2001 when the Uruguayan footballer was just a young man. At that time, their backgrounds were vastly different. Suarez came from humble beginnings, working extra jobs cleaning streets to make ends meet. Meanwhile, Sofia’s father worked in the banking industry, providing her with a more affluent upbringing.

However, Sofia paid no mind to this disparity. The two quickly found common ground and began dating.

Wilson Pirez, a scout for the Nacional FC (Uruguay), revealed that he often watched Suarez train at the stadium. Each time, Suarez trained even harder. Not earning much from the club as he was just a young player, Suarez worked extra jobs on the streets to afford food for their outings.

“Suarez earned very little from playing football. Therefore, he often had to save every penny from his cleaning job so that they could have money for outings,” Perez recalled.

Suarez and his wife first met each other in 2001.

Overcoming ups and downs

Everything was peaceful until two years ago when Sofia had to leave Uruguay for Spain in 2003 because of her father’s job transfer. At that time, Suarez was deeply disappointed and contemplated giving up everything. However, the Uruguayan footballer came to understand that football was his lifelong passion and could also bring him the opportunity to go to Europe to reunite with his girlfriend.

“When Sofia moved to Spain, I stopped playing football. But then, I realized I needed to continue pursuing football,” Suarez shared. Sofia herself also encouraged Suarez to continue his career and promised to wait until the year 1987-born player succeeded.

One year after Sofia left her homeland, Suarez took a risk and traveled to Europe to visit his girlfriend despite having no money and never having flown before. However, love helped him overcome everything.

Suarez once traveled alone to Europe at the age of 16 to visit his girlfriend.

“I only managed to afford a ticket to Barcelona but didn’t have money to get to her place. I had to borrow money from my brother, around 45 euros. The flight was very long. After arriving, I didn’t know what to do next. Airport staff guided me. At that time, I was just a 16-year-old boy, not knowing where to go,” Suarez shared.

However, Suarez eventually met his girlfriend. But after a few days, he had to return. At this point, his goal was nothing but to play football well enough to be invited by European clubs to compete.

The beautiful ending

Suarez’s efforts were rewarded. In 2006, the Dutch club Groningen decided to sign a contract with the Uruguayan player. Shortly after Suarez arrived in the Netherlands, Sofia also decided to move there to live with her boyfriend. Suarez’s income at that time increased significantly, enough to support both of them.

Suarez during his time with Groningen

Overcoming many challenges, their love story had a complete ending. In 2009, the couple officially got married. In August 2010, they welcomed their first child, Delfina. Three years later, their second child, Benjamin, came into the world.

Suarez’s happy little family.

In various interviews, Suarez has often admitted that it’s thanks to Sofia’s nurturing and meticulousness that he has achieved the success he enjoys today. The Uruguayan footballer has scored more than 563 goals in his career, including winning the historic treble with Barcelona in 2015 along with numerous other notable titles.

But no matter how prestigious the accolades, those trophies are not the most important thing to Suarez. In the heart of the 37-year-old player, family always comes first, and there is the woman who has been by his side for the past 23 years.

Sofia accompanied Suarez when he received the “Golden Boot” award.