An unforgettable era in football has come to an end. Luis Suárez has announced his retirement from the Uruguayan national team ahead of the September international break—a decision that has given plenty to talk about around the world.
As expected, one of the first to react to the news was none other than Neymar, Suárez’s former teammate at Barcelona.
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“Luisito forever. You’ve etched your name into the history of your country’s football! You’re a legend, I love you, man,” the Brazilian wrote in an Instagram story.
The MSN era
Neymar and Suárez, along with Lionel Messi, formed a dream attacking trio at Camp Nou. Together, they won every possible title in four years before the former Santos player moved to PSG in 2017.
That separation inevitably led to some distance between the stars, although they’ve kept in touch individually.
“We had a WhatsApp group, but Leo changed his number, Ney also changed his number… They keep changing all the time, so we kind of lost it… But we still talk a lot one-on-one,” Suárez said in an interview with ESPN in December 2023.
Suárez and Messi tried to keep Neymar at Barcelona
In an interview with Juan Pablo Varsky on his YouTube channel, Clank, the “Pistolero” revealed that both he and Messi had warned Neymar that leaving Barça was a mistake.
“We told Ney that it was a mistake for him to leave at that time because if he had any chance of becoming the best player in the world, it would be by playing alongside the best player in the world, who would make him the best player in the world,” Suárez recalled.
