Matías Suárez

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Matías Suárez

| image = Matías Suárez2016.jpg

| full_name = Matías Ezequiel Suárez

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1988|5|9|df=y}}{{cite web|title=Matías Ezequiel Suárez|url=https://int.soccerway.com/players/matias-suarez/36765/|work=Soccerway|publisher=Global Sports Media|access-date=19 April 2023}}

| birth_place = La Falda, Córdoba, Argentina

| caption = Suárez playing for Anderlecht in 2016

| height = 1.82 m{{cite web|title=Matías Ezequiel Suárez's Height|url=http://www.rsca.be/go/en/player/a/103/suarez_matias|access-date=7 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100502044140/http://www.rsca.be/go/en/player/a/103/suarez_matias|archive-date=2 May 2010|url-status=dead}} Anderlecht Official Site

| position = Forward

| currentclub = Unión Española

| clubnumber =

| years1 = 2005–2008

| clubs1 = Belgrano

| caps1 = 55

| goals1 = 13

| years2 = 2008–2016

| clubs2 = Anderlecht

| caps2 = 173

| goals2 = 50

| years3 = 2016–2019

| clubs3 = Belgrano

| caps3 = 57

| goals3 = 10

| years4 = 2019–2024

| clubs4 = River Plate

| caps4 = 79

| goals4 = 33

| years5 = 2024

| clubs5 = Belgrano

| caps5 = 23

| goals5 = 2

| years6 = 2025–

| clubs6 = Unión Española

| caps6 = 0

| goals6 = 0

| nationalyears1 = 2019–

| nationalteam1 = Argentina

| nationalcaps1 = 6

| nationalgoals1 = 0

| club-update = 18:39, 10 January 2025 (UTC)

| nationalteam-update = 13:32, 19 April 2023 (UTC)

| medaltemplates = {{MedalSport|Men's football}}

{{MedalCountry|{{fb|ARG}}}}

}}

Matías Ezequiel Suárez ({{IPA|es|maˈti.as ˈswaɾes}}; born 9 May 1988) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Chilean club Unión Española.

Club career

=Club Atlético Belgrano=

Suárez started his professional career at Club Atlético Belgrano in 2006. He was Club Atlético Belgrano's top scorer in the Primera B Nacional of Argentina in 2007–08.[http://www.ole.clarin.com/estadisticas/nacionalb/a2007/goleadores.html "Table of Top Goalscorers"], Diario Olé {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100325232555/http://www.ole.clarin.com/estadisticas/nacionalb/a2007/goleadores.html |date=25 March 2010 }} {{in lang|es}} Due to his performances he attracted the attention of Arsenal.{{cite web |url=http://www.anderlecht-online.be/article.php?id=9539&lang=eng&from=home |title=Suarez on his way to Anderlecht |website=Anderlecht-Online.be |date=15 December 2007 }}

=Anderlecht=

In 2008 Suárez moved from Belgrano and completed his transfer to Anderlecht. He went on to establish himself as a key member of the Anderlecht side contributing many goals and assists in the process, especially following the departure of the team's star player Romelu Lukaku to Chelsea in the summer of 2011.

The 2011–12 season was his best so far, on a personal level and with the team. While Anderlecht were crowned Belgian champions, Suárez was crowned Player of the Year 2011 and elected Player of the Season 2011–12 by his professional colleagues in Belgium.{{cite news|url=https://www.uefa.com/news/01fd-0e7e27c14708-df95306b5498-1000--suarez-scoops-top-honour-in-belgium/ |title=Suárez scoops top honour in Belgium|date=13 May 2012|access-date=15 February 2020|website=UEFA|first=Berend|last=Scholten}} After a highly successful season, Suarez was officially signed by CSKA Moscow. The fee was undisclosed and later cancelled as Suárez failed the medical tests and returned to Anderlecht afterwards.

=Return to Belgrano=

After the 2016 terrorist attacks on Brussels, Suárez announced his intention to leave Anderlecht at the end of the season, despite Anderlecht and Belgrano not agreeing on a transfer fee. As a consequence, he terminated his contract unilaterally, allegedly fearing for his family's safety.{{cite news|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/anderlecht-striker-matias-suarez-will-7615070 |title=Anderlecht striker Matias Suarez "will leave Belgium in June" after Brussels attacks made him fear for his life |date=23 March 2016|access-date=23 March 2016|work=Daily Mirror |author=Ed Malyon}} In December 2017, FIFA delivered a decision in favor of Anderlecht, ruling out any alleged threat on Suárez family and ordered Suárez and his club to pay Anderlecht compensation.{{cite news|url=http://www.dhnet.be/sports/football/division-1a/anderlecht/suarez-doit-plus-de-500-000-au-rsca-5a283c28cd7095d1cd48af79 |title=Suarez doit plus de 500.000€ au RSCA |date=7 December 2017|work=DHnet |first=Yves|last=Taildeman}} The club filed a complaint to FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber, which ordered the player to pay €540,350 to the club. Both the player and the club filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The court ordered the player and Belgrano jointly liable to pay Anderlecht €1,212,225.23.{{cite journal|url=https://www.tas-cas.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Bulletin_2019_2_FINAL.pdf|title=CAS 2018/A/5607 SA Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht (RSCA) v. Matías Ezequiel Suárez & Club Atlético Belgrano de Córdoba (CA Belgrano) & CAS 2018/A/5608 Matías Ezequiel Suárez & CA Belgrano v. RSCA|volume=2019|issue=2|journal=Bulletin|publisher=Court of Arbitration for Sport|date=2019|location=Lausanne }}

=River Plate=

On 26 January 2019, River Plate paid Belgrano $2.8 million for the player's rights. Suárez signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with his new team.{{Cite web |last=Plate |first=Club Atletico River |title=Matías Suárez, nuevo jugador de River Plate |url=http://www.cariverplate.com.ar/matias-suarez-nuevo-jugador-de-river-plate |access-date=19 April 2023 |website=caRiverPlate.com.ar |language=es}}

He scored his first goal on his debut on 30 January 2019, against Godoy Cruz.

=Belgrano=

In January 2024, he returned to Belgrano for a third spell on a one-year contract.{{cite web|url=https://www.belgranocordoba.com/noticia-belgrano/5167/|trans-title=Matías Suárez is a Belgrano player|title=Matías Suárez es jugador de Belgrano|language=Spanish|website=www.belgranocordoba.com|date=12 January 2024|accessdate=16 January 2024}}

=Unión Española=

In January 2025, Suárez moved to Chile and signed with Unión Española.{{cite news |last1=Romo |first1=Felipe |title=Unión Española remece el mercado y anuncia a un ex seleccionado argentino |url=https://chile.as.com/futbol/union-espanola-remece-el-mercado-y-anuncia-a-un-seleccionado-argentino-n/ |access-date=28 January 2025 |work=Diario AS |date=27 January 2025 |language=es}}

International career

Suárez made his debut for Argentina national team on 22 March 2019 in a friendly against Venezuela, as a half-time substitute for Pity Martínez.{{cite web|publisher=ESPN|url=http://www.espn.com/soccer/match?gameId=533399|title=Argentina v Venezuela game report|date=22 March 2019}}

Personal life

He is the uncle of fellow footballers Federico Álvarez and Gastón Álvarez Suárez.{{cite news|title=Los Suárez, una historia familiar en la intimidad de Belgrano|url=http://www.copaargentina.org/es/noticias/6273_Los-Suarez-una-historia-familiar-en-la-intimidad-de-Belgrano.html|access-date=14 April 2017|work=Copa Argentina|date=3 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170415013457/http://www.copaargentina.org/es/noticias/6273_Los-Suarez-una-historia-familiar-en-la-intimidad-de-Belgrano.html|archive-date=15 April 2017|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|title=Matías Suárez, un tío orgulloso|url=http://mundod.lavoz.com.ar/futbol/matias-suarez-un-tio-orgulloso|access-date=14 April 2017|work=Mundod Lavoz|date=5 September 2013}} He is married to singer Magalí Olave and has two children.{{cite web |url=https://www.infobae.com/deportes-2/2019/01/21/matias-suarez-llega-acompanado-a-river-quien-es-magui-olave-su-esposa-cantante-y-prima-de-el-potro-rodrigo/ |title=Matías Suárez llega acompañado a River: quién es Magui Olave, su esposa cantante y prima de "El Potro" Rodrigo |website=infobae.com |language=Spanish |date=21 January 2019 }}

Career statistics

{{updated|19 April 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://int.soccerway.com/players/matias-suarez/36765/|title=Argentina - M. Suárez - Profile with news, career statistics and history|website=Soccerway |access-date=19 April 2023}}{{cite web|url=http://www.whoscored.com/Players/23160|title=Matías Suárez Football Statistics - WhoScored.com|publisher=WhoScored.com|access-date=16 September 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.espnfc.com/player/129414/matias-suarez|title=Matías Suárez Player Profile - ESPN FC|publisher=ESPN FC|access-date=16 September 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=55382|title=Matías Suárez - Football Stats - Anderlecht - Age 26|website=Soccerbase|access-date=16 September 2014}}

rowspan="2"\|Club !rowspan="2"\|Season !colspan="3"\|League !colspan="2"\|National cup{{efn\|Includes Belgian Cup, Copa Argentina}} !colspan="2"\|League cup{{efn\|Includes Copa de la Superliga}} !colspan="2"\|Continental !colspan="2"\|Other{{efn\|Includes Belgian Super Cup, Supercopa Argentina}} !colspan="2"\|Total
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" \|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
rowspan="9"\|Anderlecht \|2008–09 \|Belgian First Division \|11	1	0	0	colspan="2"\|–	2	0	1	1	15	2
2009–10 \|Belgian Pro League \|35	11	3	0	colspan="2"\|–	13{{efn\|name=UEFA\|Appearances in UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League}}	4	0	0	51	15
2010–11 \|Belgian Pro League \|34	8	1	0	colspan="2"\|–	12{{efn\|name=UEFA\|Appearances in UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League}}	2	1	0	47	10
2011–12 \|Belgian Pro League \|35	12	0	0	colspan="2"\|–	10{{efn\|name=UEL\|Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League}}	7	0	0	45	20
2012–13 \|Belgian Pro League \|11	3	0	0	colspan="2"\|–	0	0	0	0	11	3
2013–14 \|Belgian Pro League \|11	6	1	1	colspan="2"\|–	3{{efn\|name=UCL\|Appearances in UEFA Champions League}}	0	1	0	15	7
2014–15 \|Belgian Pro League \|13	4	1	0	colspan="2"\|–	3{{efn\|name=UCL\|Appearances in UEFA Champions League}}	0	1	0	16	4
2015–16 \|Belgian Pro League \|23	5	2	1	colspan="2"\|–	7{{efn\|name=UEL\|Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League}}	0	0	0	32	6
colspan="2"\|Total !173	50	7	2	colspan="2"\|–	50	13	4	1	232	67
rowspan="4"\|Belgrano \|2016–17 \|Argentine Primera División \|20	3	4	0	0	0	4{{efn\|name=CS\|Appearances in Copa Sudamericana}}	0	0	0	28	3
2017–18 \|Argentine Primera División \|24	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	25	5
2018–19 \|Argentine Primera División \|13	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	2
colspan="2"\|Total !57	10	6	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	67	10
rowspan="7"\|River Plate \|2018–19 \|Argentine Primera División \|9	3	1	2	2	1	2{{efn\|name=RS\|Appearances in Recopa Sudamericana}}	1	0	0	14	7
2019–20 \|Argentine Primera División \|21	7	1	0	0	0	12{{efn\|name=CL\|Appearances in Copa Libertadores}}	1	1	1	35	9
2020–21 \|Argentine Primera División \|8	2	1	0	0	0	11{{efn\|name=CL\|Appearances in Copa Libertadores}}	2	0	0	20	\|4
2021 \|Argentine Primera División \|17	7	0	0	0	0	6{{efn\|name=CL\|Appearances in Copa Libertadores}}	1	0	0	23	8
2022 \|Argentine Primera División \|20	7	2	0	0	0	4{{efn\|name=CL\|Appearances in Copa Libertadores}}	2	0	0	26	9
2023 \|Argentine Primera División \|4	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	7
colspan="2"\|Total !79	33	5	2	2	1	35	7	1	1	122	44
colspan="3"\|Career total !309	97	18	4	2	1	89	20	5	2	421	121