Kurt Steven Angle (born December 9, 1968) is an American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, actor and 1996 Olympic gold medalist. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is a former four-time TNA World Heavyweight Champion, and recognized by the promotion as a 14-time World Champion (as they also include his amateur accolades). He is also known for his time in World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment (WWF/E).
Angle was involved in amateur wrestling during both high school and college. In college at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, he won numerous accolades, including being a two-time National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I champion. After graduating, he won the 1995 World Championship tournament. Angle then competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, where he won a gold medal in heavyweight freestyle wrestling. Kurt Angle is also one of only four people in the world to complete the Grand Slam in amateur wrestling which is the junior nationals, the NCAAs, the World Championships and the Olympics. He is also one of only four Americans to win the Krasnoyarsk. He was named the greatest shoot wrestler and one of the top 15 college wrestlers of all time by USA Wrestling.
Initially turning down an offer to join the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Angle signed a multi-year contract with the company in 1998. His first big push in the company was in February 2000, when he held both the European Championship and the Intercontinental Championship at the same time. Not long after, Angle began pursuing the WWF Championship. He continued to be a part of main event matches until August 2006, when Angle was granted a release from his contract. Throughout his tenure in the company, he was a six-time world champion (four-time WWF/E Champion, World Heavyweight Champion and WCW Champion), he also held the United States Championship, Intercontinental Championship, European Championship, Hardcore Championship and WWE Tag Team Champion once each. In addition, he was the winner of the King of the Ring tournament in 2000, the tenth Triple Crown Champion, and the fifth Grand Slam Champion. In addition, he is one of two wrestlers (Edge being the other) to have held every currently active male championship in the WWE.
After leaving WWE, Angle joined Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he became the second wrestler in TNA to win TNA's Triple Crown and the first man to hold all three TNA championships simultaneously. While in TNA, his real-life wife Karen began accompanying him to the ring and playing a part in his on-screen storylines. Angle has also made appearances for New Japan Pro Wrestling as well as Inoki Genome Federation, where he held their version of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. In addition, he is a three-time TNA World Heavyweight Champion, the second Triple Crown winner in TNA history—being the only one to hold all the required titles at once (while also holding the IWGP Title, making him a quadruple champion for a brief time).
Angle is the only wrestler in history to be a Triple Crown winner in both WWE and TNA. He is the first man to have held the WWE Championship, the World Heavyweight Championship, the WCW Championship, and the TNA World Heavyweight Championship in his career. Angle is also a two time King of the Mountain winner, winning at the 2007 and 2009 Slammiversary PPV event, making him the only wrestler to have been both King of the Ring (WWE) and King of the Mountain (TNA). Between WWE and TNA, Angle has won 17 total championships. In 2010 the Wrestling Observer Newsletter named Angle the Wrestler of the Decade of the 2000s.
Angle started amateur wrestling at the age of six. He attended Mt. Lebanon High School,where he won varsity letters in football and wrestling and was an All-State linebacker. He went undefeated on the freshman wrestling team at Mt. Lebanon High and qualified for the state wrestling tournament his sophomore year. Angle also placed third in the state wrestling tournament as a junior and was the 1987 Pennsylvania State Wrestling Champion as a senior.
Valentino Rossi, (born February 16, 1979 in Urbino), is an Italian professional motorcycle racer and multiple MotoGP World Champion. He is one of the most successful motorcycle racers of all time, with nine Grand Prix World Championships to his name – a record seven of which are in the premier class.
Following his father, Graziano Rossi, Rossi started racing in Grand Prix in 1996 for Aprilia in the 125cc category and won his first World Championship the following year. From there, he moved up to the 250cc category with Aprilia and won the 250cc World Championship in 1999. He won the 500cc World Championship with Honda in 2001, the MotoGP World Championships (also with Honda) in 2002 and 2003, and continued his streak of back-to-back championships by winning the 2004 and 2005 titles after leaving Honda to join Yamaha, before regaining the title in 2008 and retaining it in 2009. He left Yamaha to join Ducati for the 2011 season.
Rossi is first in all time 500 cc/MotoGP race wins standings, with 79 victories, and second in all time overall wins standings with 105 race wins (behind Giacomo Agostini with 122).
Valentino Rossi was born in Urbino, and he was still a child when the family moved to Tavullia. Son of Graziano Rossi, a former motorcycle racer, he first began riding at a very young age.Rossi's first racing love was karting. Fuelled by his mother, Stefania's, concern for her son's safety, Graziano purchased a kart as substitute for the bike. However, the Rossi family trait of perpetually wanting to go faster prompted a redesign; Graziano replaced the 60cc motor with a 100cc national kart motor for his then 5-year-old son.
Rossi won the regional kart championship in 1990. After this he took up minimoto and before the end of 1991 had won numerous regional races.Rossi continued to race karts and finished fifth at the national kart championships in Parma. Both Valentino and Graziano had started looking at moving into the Italian 100cc series, as well as the corresponding European series, which most likely would have pushed him into the direction of Formula One. However, the high cost of racing karts led to the decision to race minimoto exclusively. Through 1992 and 1993, Valentino continued to learn the ins and outs of minimoto racing.
In 1993, with help from his father, Virginio Ferrari, Claudio Castiglioni and Claudio Lusuardi (who ran the official Cagiva Sport Production team), he rode a Cagiva Mito 125cc motorcycle, which he damaged in a first-corner crash no more than a hundred metres from the pit lane.He finished ninth that race weekend.Although his first season in the Italian Sport Production Championship was varied, he achieved a pole position in the season's final race at Misano, where he would ultimately finish on the podium. By the second year, Rossi had been provided with a factory Mito by Lusuardi and won the Italian title.In 1994, Aprilia by way of Sandroni, used Rossi to improve its RS125R and in turn allowed him to learn how to handle the fast new pace of 125cc racing. At first he found himself on a Sandroni in the 1994 Italian championship and continued to ride it through the 1995 European and Italian championships.Rossi had some success in the 1996 World Championship season, failing to finish five of the season's races and crashing several times. Despite this, in August he won his first World Championship Grand Prix at Brno in the Czech Republic on an AGV Aprilia RS125R. He finished the season in ninth position and proceeded to dominate the 125cc World Championship in the following 1997 season, winning 11 of the 15 races.
Evander Holyfield (born October 19, 1962) is a professional boxer from the United States. He is a former World Undisputed Champion in both cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions, earning him the nickname "The Real Deal". After winning the bronze medal in the Light Heavyweight division at the 1984 Summer Olympics, he debuted as a professional at the age of 21. Holyfield moved to the cruiserweight division in 1985 and won his first title the following year, when he defeated Dwight Muhammad Qawi for the WBA World Cruiserweight belt. He would then go on to defeat Ricky Parkey and Carlos De Leon to win the IBF and WBC titles, becoming the undisputed cruiserweight champion. He is the only boxer to have defeated Mike Tyson twice.
Holyfield moved up to heavyweight in 1988, winning his first six fights, all by stoppage. On October 25, 1990, Holyfield knocked out heavyweight champion James "Buster" Douglas, to claim the WBC, WBA and the IBF heavyweight belts (World Undisputed heavyweight Championship). He retained the Heavyweight crown three times, which included victories over former champions George Foreman and Larry Holmes, before suffering his first professional loss to Riddick Bowe on November 13, 1992. Holyfield regained the title in a rematch one year later, beating Bowe by majority decision for the WBA and IBF titles. Holyfield later lost the titles to Michael Moorer on April 22, 1994, by Majority Decision.
Holyfield was forced to retired in 1994, only to return a year later. On November 9, 1996, he went on to defeat Mike Tyson by eleventh round technical knockout to win the WBA title, in what was named fight of the year and upset of the year for 1996 by The Ring magazine. Evander Holyfield became the first Heavyweight since Muhammad Ali to win the World title three times. Seven months later, Holyfield won the 1997 rematch against Tyson, when the latter was disqualified in round three for biting off part of Holyfield's ear. During his reign as champion, he also avenged his loss to Michael Moorer, when he stopped him in eight rounds to win the IBF belt.
In 1999, he faced Lennox Lewis in a split draw, but was defeated in a rematch eight months later. The following year, he won a unanimous decision over John Ruiz for the vacant WBA heavyweight championship, becoming the first boxer to win a version of the heavyweight title four times.Holyfield would lose a rematch with Ruiz seven months later and would face him for the third time in a draw.In 2010 Holyfield defeated Francois Botha by TKO to capture the "lightly regarded" WBF Heavyweight title.Holyfield is still an active Boxer as of 2011 and has a professional record of 44 wins, 10 losses, 1 draw and 1 no contest. He is ranked #77 on Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.Evander Holyfield is ranked as the Greatest Cruiserweight of all time by The Boxing Scene. and is concidered one of the Greatest Heavyweights of all time by many.
Evander Holyfield was born on October 19, 1962, in the mill town of Atmore, Alabama. The youngest of nine children, Holyfield and his family moved to Atlanta in the summer of 1964, at the age of two. He began boxing at age 12 and won the Boys Club boxing tournament. At 13, he qualified to compete in his first Junior Olympics. By age 15, Holyfield became the Southeastern Regional Champion, winning this tournament and the Best Boxer Award. By 1984 he had a record of 160 wins and 14 losses, with 76 KO.
When he was 20 years old, Holyfield represented the U.S. in the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas, Venezuela, where he won a silver medal after losing to Cuban world champion Pablo Romero.The following year, he was the National Golden Gloves Champion, and won a bronze medal in the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, California after a controversial disqualification in the second round of the semi-final against New Zealand's Kevin Barry
Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is a retired American boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles, he was 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old. Tyson won his first 19 professional bouts by knockout, with twelve of them occurring in the first round. He won the WBC title in 1986 after defeating Trevor Berbick by a TKO in the second round. In 1987, Tyson added the WBA and IBF titles after defeating James Smith and Tony Tucker. He was the first heavyweight boxer to simultaneously hold and only Heavyweight to individually unify the WBA, WBC and IBF titles.
In 1988, Tyson became the lineal champion when he knocked out Michael Spinks in the first 91 seconds of the fight. Tyson successfully defended the world heavyweight championship nine times, including victories over Larry Holmes and Frank Bruno. Tyson lost his titles to 42-to-1 underdog James "Buster" Douglas on February 11, 1990, in Tokyo, Japan, by a knockout in round 10. Tyson continued in his quest to regain the titles, defeating Donovan Ruddock twice in 1991. Tyson was then scheduled to take on the undisputed heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield but pulled out due to injury.
In 1992, Tyson was convicted of raping Desiree Washington, for which he was sentenced to six years in prison but was released after serving three years. After being released from prison in 1995, he engaged in a series of comeback fights. In 1996, Tyson won the WBC and WBA titles after defeating Frank Bruno and Bruce Seldon by knockout. After being stripped of the WBC title, Tyson lost his WBA crown to Evander Holyfield in November, 1996 by an 11th round TKO. Their 1997 rematch ended when Tyson was disqualified for biting off part of Holyfield's ear.
In 2002, he fought for the world heavyweight title at the age of 35, losing by knockout to Lennox Lewis. Tyson retired from professional boxing in 2006 after he was knocked out in consecutive matches against Danny Williams and Kevin McBride. Tyson declared bankruptcy in 2003, despite receiving over US$30 million for several of his fights and $300 million during his career.
Throughout his career, Tyson became well known for his ferocious and intimidating boxing style as well as his controversial behavior both inside and outside the ring. Tyson is considered to have been one of the best heavyweight boxers of all time. He is ranked No. 16 on The Ring's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.
Tyson was born in Brooklyn, New York City. He has a brother, Rodney, who is five years older than he. His sister, Denise, died of a heart attack at age 25 in 1991. Tyson's father, Jimmy Kirkpatrick, abandoned his family when Tyson was 2, leaving his mother, Lorna Smith Tyson, to care for them on her own. The family lived in Bedford-Stuyvesant until their financial burdens necessitated a move to Brownsville when Tyson was 10 years old. Tyson's mother died six years later, leaving 16-year-old Tyson in the care of boxing manager and trainer Cus D'Amato, who would become his legal guardian. Tyson has been quoted saying, "I never saw my mother happy with me and proud of me for doing something: She only knew me as being a wild kid running the streets, coming home with new clothes that she knew I didn't pay for. I never got a chance to talk to her or know about her. Professionally, it has no effect, but it's crushing emotionally and personally."
Pavel Nedvěd (Czech pronunciation: ( listen); born 30 August 1972 in Cheb) is a retired Czech football midfielder. He is one of the most successful Czech players to emerge from the newly formed Czech Republic, winning numerous accolades with Lazio and Juventus, including the last ever Cup Winners' Cup. Widely regarded as one of the finest midfielders of the modern era, he was the recipient of the prestigious Ballon d'Or in 2003, only the second Czech player to receive this honour, and the first since the breakup of Czechoslovakia. Nedved was also the recipient of the 2nd Golden Foot award in 2004. Nedved was also a key member of the Czech Republic team which reached the final of Euro '96, during which he garnered much international attention. He was also later given the international captaincy.
Well known for his energy and tireless runs, as well as his goal scoring ability, Nedved was nicknamed Furia Ceca ("The Czech Fury", an Italian wordplay on the phrase Furia Cieca, meaning "Blind Fury") by Juventus fans.Nedvěd retired after the 2008–09 season after 19 years as a professional. He played 664 club games, scoring 146 goals, and was capped 91 times for the Czech Republic, scoring 18 times.
Born in the town of Cheb and raised in the nearby town Skalná, Nedvěd began his football career in his native Czechoslovakia. A football fanatic from a young age, Nedved began playing for his home team, Tatran Skalna, in 1977, aged just 5. He then moved on to Ruda Hvozda Cheb in 1985, playing just one season there, before playing for 5 years with Skoda Plzen.In 1990, Nedved arrived in Prague, his nation's capital. Nedved initially signed for Dukla Prague, but played only one season with the outfit before being snapped up by the more prestigious Sparta Prague.With Sparta, Nedved won one Czechoslovak first league and two Gambrinus liga titles, as well as one Czech Republic Football Cup. Nedved's performances at Euro 1996, including a goal in the group stage match against Italy, gained him some notoriety; despite apparently having a verbal agreement with PSV, Nedved made the move from Sparta Prague to Serie A outfit Lazio in 1996.
Nedved played his first game for Lazio against Bologna on 7 September 1996. Nedved rapidly became an integral part of the Lazio side, helping them to the 1997–98 Coppa Italia, and also to the last ever international Cup Winners' Cup 1999. Nedved played a vital role in the campaign and also managed to score the last ever goal of the tournament, which was abolished the next year. In the final against RCD Mallorca, Nedved scored in the 81st minute, securing a 2–1 win for Lazio. Lazio went on to win the Serie A title, as well as two Supercoppa Italianas with Nedved in the team, and also finished runner-up in the 1997-98 UEFA Cup. Nedved played 204 games for the club overall, scoring 54 times.
Having spent 5 seasons with Lazio, Nedved moved to Juventus in 2001 for a fee of €41 million as a replacement for Zinedine Zidane, who had transferred to Spain's Real Madrid the same summer. He proved to be one of the few midfielders capable of assuming the playmaking role of his French predecessor. Nedvěd played frequently in Juventus' Scudetto-winning teams of 2001–02 and 2002–03.Nedvěd was instrumental in leading Juventus into the 2003 Champions League final against Milan, but he was forced to sit out the final because of accumulation of yellow cards, after being booked in the semi-final for tackling Real Madrid midfielder Steve McManaman. At the end of the year, he won the European Footballer of the Year award.
Following the 2005–06 season, and Juventus's relegation from Serie A due to the Calciopoli scandal, Nedvěd's future as a Juventus player was heavily discussed. After the World Cup, he dispelled those rumors by restating his desire to help Juventus regain promotion to the Serie A. However, the season was somewhat tumultuous for the Czech international. With only a one-year contract, he hinted he might retire from football altogether at the end of the season. He repeated this threat after a 5-game ban stemming from a red card on 1 December. Nevertheless, he remained with the club until the end of the season. Together fellow veterans David Trézéguet and captain Alessandro Del Piero, the three of them scored 47 of the 83 goals Juve scored in Serie B as they won promotion at the first time of asking.
During the 2007–08 season, Nedvěd played frequently for the Bianconeri, providing contributions while being Juve's first-choice left winger. However, he has not been free from controversy. Nedvěd came under negative spotlight recently for his tackle on Internazionale midfielder Luís Figo, which resulted in a broken fibula for the Portuguese player.Nedvěd had a fair season during Juve's return, but only scored twice. During Serie A 2007–08, Nedvěd acquired a slight concussion that kept him off of the pitch for about a month. He was linked with a move to Japanese side Jubilo Iwata during the 2008–09 summer transfer window, but the rumours were quickly scotched when he committed his future to Juventus for another year after signing a new one year contract extension which would secure his services until June 2009.
Juventus Football Club (BIT: JUVE) (from Latin iuventus: youth, pronounced ), commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve (pronounced ),are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont. The club is the third oldest of its kind in the country and has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 2006–07 season, in the top flight First Division (known as Serie A since 1929).
Founded in 1897 as Sport Club Juventus by a group of young Torinese students and linked to the industrial Agnelli family since 1923, the club has become a symbol of Italian culture and italianità (Italianity), due to its tradition of success, the ideological politics and socio-economic origin of the club's sympathisers and their massive presence all over the country and abroad, mainly in countries with a significant presence of Italian immigrants. This is reflected, among other things, in the club's contribution to the national team, uninterrupted since the second half of 1920s and recognised as one of the most influential in international football.Juventus' fan base is larger than any other Italian club and is one of the largest world-wide.
Juventus are historically the most successful team in Italian football and one of the most successful and recognised in the world. According to the International Federation of Football History and Statistics, an organization recognised by FIFA, Juventus were Italy's best club of the 20th century and the second most successful European club in the same period.The club currently ranks fourth in Europe and seventh in the world with the most international titles won officially recognised by their respective association football confederation and FIFA. In 1985, Juventus became the first club in the history of European football to have won all three major UEFA competitions: the European Champion Clubs' Cup, the (now-defunct) UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Cup (the first Italian and Southern European side to win the competition). After their triumph in the Intercontinental Cup the same year, Juventus also became the first football team ever—and remain the only one at present—to have won all possible confederation competitions and the club world title.
Juventus were founded as Sport Club Juventus in late 1897 by pupils from the Massimo D'Azeglio Lyceum school in Turin, but were renamed as Foot-Ball Club Juventus two years later. The club joined the Italian Football Championship during 1900. During this period the team wore a pink and black kit. Juventus first won the league championship in 1905 while playing at their Velodromo Umberto I ground. By this time the club colours had changed to black and white stripes, inspired by English side Notts County.
There was a split at the club in 1906, after some of the staff considered moving Juve out of Turin. President Alfredo Dick was unhappy with this and left with some prominent players to found FBC Torino which in turn spawned the Derby della Mole.Juventus spent much of this period steadily rebuilding after the split, surviving the First World War.
Fiat owner Edoardo Agnelli gained control of the club in 1923, and built a new stadium.This helped the club to its second scudetto (league championship) in the 1925–26 season beating Alba Roma with an aggregate score of 12–1, Antonio Vojak's goals were essential that season. The 1930s proved to be even more fruitful, the club won five consecutive league titles from 1930 through to 1935, most were under coach Carlo Carcano with star players such as Raimundo Orsi, Luigi Bertolini, Giovanni Ferrari and Luis Monti amongst others.Juventus moved to the Stadio Comunale, but for the rest of the 1930s and the majority of the 1940s they were unable to recapture championship dominance.
After the Second World War, Gianni Agnelli was appointed honorary president.The club added two more league championships to its name in the 1949–50 and 1951–52 seasons, the latter of which was under the management of Englishman Jesse Carver.Two new strikers were signed during 1957–58; Welshman John Charles and Italo-Argentine Omar Sivori, playing alongside longtime member Giampiero Boniperti. That season saw Juventus awarded with the Golden Star for Sport Excellence to wear on their shirts after becoming the first Italian side to win ten league titles. In the same season, Omar Sivori became the first ever player at the club to win the European Footballer of the Year. The following season they beat Fiorentina to complete their first league and cup double, winning Serie A and Coppa Italia. Boniperti retired in 1961 as the all-time top scorer at the club, with 182 goals in all competitions, a club record which stood for 45 years.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.In 1968, under the management of Matt Busby, Manchester United was the first English football club to win the European Cup, ten years after the Munich air disaster that claimed the lives of eight players. The current manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, is the most successful manager in English football history, having won 27 major honours since he took over in November 1986.
Manchester United is the most successful club in English football, having won a record 19 league titles, a record 11 FA Cups and four League Cups. The club has also won three European Cups and has twice been club world champions, in 1999 and 2008.Manchester United is one of the wealthiest and most widely supported football teams in the world. The club is said to be worth £1.13 billion, making it the world's most valuable football club. After being floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1991, the club was purchased by Malcolm Glazer in May 2005 in a deal valuing the club at almost £800 million.
Manchester United was formed in 1878 as Newton Heath LYR Football Club by the Carriage and Wagon department of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway depot at Newton Heath. The team initially played games against other departments and rail companies, but on 20 November 1880, they competed in their first recorded match; wearing the colours of the railway company – green and gold – they were defeated 6–0 by Bolton Wanderers' reserve team. By 1888, the club had become a founding member of The Combination, a regional football league. However, following the league's dissolution after just one season, Newton Heath joined the newly formed Football Alliance, which ran for three seasons before being merged with the Football League. This resulted in the club starting the 1892–93 season in the First Division, by which time it had become independent of the rail company and dropped the "LYR" from its name.After just two seasons, the club was relegated to the Second Division.
In January 1902, with debts of £2,670 – equivalent to £210,000 as of 2011 – the club was served with a winding-up order. Captain Harry Stafford found four local businessmen, including John Henry Davies (who became club president), each willing to invest £500 in return for a direct interest in running the club and who subsequently changed the name; on 24 April 1902, Manchester United was officially born. Under Ernest Mangnall, who assumed managerial duties in 1903, the team finished as Second Division runners-up in 1906 and secured promotion to the First Division, which they won in 1908 – the club's first league title. The following season began with victory in the first ever Charity Shield and ended with the club's first FA Cup title. Manchester United won the First Division for the second time in 1911, but at the end of the following season, Mangnall left the club to join Manchester City.
In 1922, three years after the resumption of football following the First World War, the club was relegated to the Second Division, where it remained until regaining promotion in 1925. Relegated again in 1931, Manchester United became a yo-yo club, achieving its all-time lowest position of 20th place in the Second Division in 1934. Following the death of the club's principal benefactor, J. H. Davies, in October 1927, the club's finances deteriorated to the extent that Manchester United would likely have gone bankrupt had it not been for James W. Gibson, who, in December 1931, invested £2,000 and assumed control of the club. In the 1938–39 season, the last year of football before the Second World War, the club finished 14th in the First Division.
In October 1945, the impending resumption of football led to the managerial appointment of Matt Busby, who demanded an unprecedented level of control over team selection, player transfers and training sessions. Busby led the team to second-place league finishes in 1947, 1948 and 1949, and to FA Cup victory in 1948. In 1952, the club won the First Division, its first league title for 41 years. With an average age of 22, the media labelled the back-to-back title winning side of 1956 "the Busby Babes", a testament to Busby's faith in his youth players. In 1957, Manchester United became the first English team to compete in the European Cup, despite objections from The Football League, who had denied Chelsea the same opportunity the previous season En route to the semi-final, which they lost to Real Madrid, the team recorded a 10–0 victory over Belgian champions Anderlecht, which remains the club's biggest victory on record.
Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (Spanish pronunciation; born 24 January 1987), commonly known as Luis Suárez, is a Uruguayan international footballer who plays for Premier League club Liverpool as a striker. Suárez also plays for the Uruguayan national team. He is known as 'El Pistolero' (The Gunner). Suárez grew up in Salto alongside six siblings, with a single mother. In 2005, he began his professional career at Montevideo side Nacional. His older brother Paolo Suárez is also a professional football player.
He moved to the Netherlands with Eredivisie side Groningen in 2006 at the age of 19, before transferring to Ajax in 2007. He made a major impact at the Amsterdam club as a supporting striker with the main striker initially being Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, then Marko Pantelić, and later Mounir El Hamdaoui. Following the arrival of manager Martin Jol at Ajax and the departure of Thomas Vermaelen to Arsenal in 2009, Suárez was made the club captain. Suarez moved to Liverpool for €26.5 million in January 2011, briefly becoming the club's most expensive player.
In 2010, Suárez was named Dutch Footballer of the Year, having ended the season as top scorer in the Eredivisie with 35 goals in 33 league matches (49 goals in all competitions). On 5 August 2010, Suárez became a father, with his wife bearing a baby daughter in Barcelona.Also in 2010, Suárez became a member of the select group of players having scored more than 100 goals for Ajax in competitive matches, joining players like Johan Cruyff, Marco van Basten, Dennis Bergkamp and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. In 2011, Suárez scored four goals for Uruguay in winning the 2011 Copa América, and was named player of the tournament.
In Uruguay, Suárez played for Nacional. During his time with the Uruguayan club under the management of ConCon, he won the national championship. In his first season with the club he scored 13 goals but only played in 16 games.
After that controversial season, Groningen purchased him for approximately € 800,000. During his first season in Europe, Suárez performed well at Groningen, scoring 10 goals in 29 appearances. His impressive play attracted the attention of other European clubs and, following the season, he was sold to Ajax for €7.5 million on 9 August 2007.
The transfer initially seemed doomed when Suárez lost his case before the Dutch Football Association's arbitration committee. That same day, however, Ajax informed Groningen that they would be willing to pay more for him.Suárez made his official debut for the team in the Champions League qualifier against Slavia Prague. In the match he won a penalty kick for Ajax, though it was missed by Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. In his Eredivisie debut for the club, he scored one goal, made three assists and won another penalty, helping Ajax beat newly promoted De Graafschap 8–1. In his home debut at the Amsterdam Arena, he scored another two goals against Heerenveen to continue the excellent start to his Ajax career. He then scored a hat-trick for the club in the league match against Willem II, to take his tally for Ajax to 14 goals in 27 appearances. He ended his first season with Ajax with 20 goals in 40 appearances.
Suárez received a lot of negative attention in the 2008–09 season, due to the high number of yellow cards he received. He was given a seventh yellow card against Utrecht in a 2–0 win for Ajax, which earned him a suspension against Den Haag. He ended the 2008–09 season with 22 goals from 31 games in the league,finishing second in the top-scorers table, a goal behind Mounir El Hamdaoui of AZ.In the 2009–10 season Suárez scored his first league goals in the second match against RKC Waalwijk on 8 August 2009, scoring a hat-trick in a 4–1 victory, with the second goal being a 25-meter scorcher.
