Luis Suárez: An excepcional day turned into a nightmare
The Colombian striker, who went from scoring his first hat-trick in his footballing career to ending up in hospital with a serious injury, urges the fans to support his team-mates on the pitch more than ever
Scoring a hat-trick in the Spanish LaLiga EA Sports is no easy feat and doing it in record-breaking time is even more difficult.
UD Almería striker Luis Suárez experienced, in just over an hour, the dream of hitting three in a row past the keeper and the horror of leaving the Stadium injured and in an ambulance.
The Colombian centre-forward, in addition to grabbing a wonderful hat-trick, did so in five minutes and twenty-five seconds, and thus becoming the third player in LaLiga history who did it the fastest. It is a record that will likely stand for a very long time with the UD Almería player completing the remarkable feat under the sweltering heat at the Power Horse Stadium against direct rivals Granada CF.
It was a great, a beautiful day to remember forever, however, everything went downhill in the 82nd minute when suddenly Suárez broke his fibula unluckily, being forced off the pitch on a stretcher and taken to the hospital in an ambulance.
The UD Almería forward spoke to the Club's official media to talk about the mixed bag of emotions he experienced last Sunday. First he recalled how he picked up the unfortunate injury: 'The play was incredibly fast-paced, and a goal-scoring opportunity was crystal clear in my mind. With the instinct to take the first shot, I made my move. However, I missed the ball, and undeterred, I continued my run. As the ball was slightly high, I aimed for a volley, but my intent was to keep it close. I leapt, my left leg nearly bent, and when my foot touched the dry, scorching grass, my cleats dug in, producing an audible creak. Upon hitting the ground, my immediate concern was assessing the condition of my tibia, as I suspected it might be the tibia, fibula, or possibly both, given the loud crunch it had produced.'
Furthermore, the 25-year-old
should have left the pitch in the previous play, since he had asked to be subbed: 'Yes, that's right, it's destiny or a holy matter... call it whatever you want, I had asked for the change a couple of minutes before because during the hydration break I had already warned the coaching staff that my calves were tight, but well, what I told you before it was a holly matter.' Nonetheless, Suárez prefers to look on the bright side and assured that now it's time to 'face it in the best possible way and with the desire to return soon.'
The mixed bag of feelings that the Rojiblanco experienced in that Andalusian derby was incredible, first managing to score his first ever hat-trick in his footballing career and the third fastest in LaLiga history and then with the partial fibula injury. He acknowledged it: 'It was a brilliant day, the first thing at the end of the first half was a feeling of not believing it because I've always been on the verge of netting three goals, but neither in Segunda Division, nor when I was in Segunda B did it, so doing it in the Primera Division was a new achievement for me, for my career, for all the years of hard work and the truth is that it was a great feeling of joy, but in the end the game happened as it happened and well, we all have to continue working together, now it's my turn to support my team-mates from the bench and I hope that our first victory comes on Friday [Athletic Club de Bilbao vs UD Almería].
To conclude, the Santa Marta native sent a message to the UD Almería 12th Man: 'I want to ask the fans that we have to be with the players who are on the pitch and those of us who aren't in action are going to follow suit, supporting the team, our team-mates, our players so that we take each game as if it were a final because we need the first victory which is what will give us a much-needed boost of confidence.'