El veinticuatro de enero/January 24th
¡Feliz cumpleaños a ... Luis Suárez! (1987- ).
"I think [my] hunger [to win] comes from all the suffering since childhood."
- in June 2014 interview with Sports Illustrator writer Grant Wahl. Click HERE to read the full article, which also mentions Suárez drinking yerba matté from a gourd (very Uruguayan) during the interview and referencing Uruguayan garra, or grit, as a reason for his success.
Considered one of the best professional soccer players in the world (see highlights of his 2017 season HERE), Suarez overcame many hardships -- and caused a lot of controversy -- on his way to the top. Born in Salto, Uruguay, a town about 300 miles northwest of the capital, Montevideo, Suárez moved to the city with his family when he was seven. When he was nine, his parents divorced, and Suárez's mom began supporting the family with her work cleaning houses. Suárez used to walk to meet her at lunchtime to pick up the money she had made that morning so that he could give it to his sisters to buy food for dinner that night. At age 11, he was walking alone 40 minutes to practice, where he would often play in ill-fitting cleats. He met his future wife, Sofia Balbi, when he was 15 and she was 13. He credits her with convincing him to stop partying so that he could make something of himself. Her family moved to Spain during Uruguay's economic crisis of 2003, and Suárez says that his decision to sign with the Dutch club Groningen in 2006 was easy because he wanted to be close to her, and she was already in Europe (he had been discovered by Dutch scouts who had come to Uruguay to see another player). The two married in 2009 and have two children together, Delfina (whose name is an anagram of the famous Liverpool stadium Anfield) and Benjamín. (Click HERE to see their Dec. 2017 Christmas photo/message, and HERE for a video (in Spanish) about their love story that students are sure to love). Despite his many amazing accomplishments, Suárez is a lightning rod for controversies (biting other players during play, blocking a goal with his hand in the 2010 World Cup against Ghana (click HERE to see), and being accused of racism (which he vehemently denies, stating that his grandfather is black and that his grandmother regularly uses the term "negrito" with him as a term of love)). He has apologized for some incidents (the biting) and not for others (using his hand to block a goal so that his team could win, being racist, because he says he is not). Listen to him discuss all these incidents, and more, with fellow player Gerard Piqué (husband of Shakira) in this 2018 La Nación interview - HERE).
For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.
Other January 24th events of note:
1977 - Masacre de Atocha. During the transition to democracy in Spain (after dictator Francisco Franco, 1939-1976), an ultra-right group killed five people and wounded four (including one pregnant woman) who were holding a communist meeting. Juan Antonio Bardem, father or actor Javier Bardem (who is married to actress Penelope Cruz!), made a movie (7 Días en enero) in 1979 about the events.
 |
| Suárez with his family and La bota del oro from 2016 elmundodeportivo.com article. Click HERE. |
"I think [my] hunger [to win] comes from all the suffering since childhood."
- in June 2014 interview with Sports Illustrator writer Grant Wahl. Click HERE to read the full article, which also mentions Suárez drinking yerba matté from a gourd (very Uruguayan) during the interview and referencing Uruguayan garra, or grit, as a reason for his success.
Considered one of the best professional soccer players in the world (see highlights of his 2017 season HERE), Suarez overcame many hardships -- and caused a lot of controversy -- on his way to the top. Born in Salto, Uruguay, a town about 300 miles northwest of the capital, Montevideo, Suárez moved to the city with his family when he was seven. When he was nine, his parents divorced, and Suárez's mom began supporting the family with her work cleaning houses. Suárez used to walk to meet her at lunchtime to pick up the money she had made that morning so that he could give it to his sisters to buy food for dinner that night. At age 11, he was walking alone 40 minutes to practice, where he would often play in ill-fitting cleats. He met his future wife, Sofia Balbi, when he was 15 and she was 13. He credits her with convincing him to stop partying so that he could make something of himself. Her family moved to Spain during Uruguay's economic crisis of 2003, and Suárez says that his decision to sign with the Dutch club Groningen in 2006 was easy because he wanted to be close to her, and she was already in Europe (he had been discovered by Dutch scouts who had come to Uruguay to see another player). The two married in 2009 and have two children together, Delfina (whose name is an anagram of the famous Liverpool stadium Anfield) and Benjamín. (Click HERE to see their Dec. 2017 Christmas photo/message, and HERE for a video (in Spanish) about their love story that students are sure to love). Despite his many amazing accomplishments, Suárez is a lightning rod for controversies (biting other players during play, blocking a goal with his hand in the 2010 World Cup against Ghana (click HERE to see), and being accused of racism (which he vehemently denies, stating that his grandfather is black and that his grandmother regularly uses the term "negrito" with him as a term of love)). He has apologized for some incidents (the biting) and not for others (using his hand to block a goal so that his team could win, being racist, because he says he is not). Listen to him discuss all these incidents, and more, with fellow player Gerard Piqué (husband of Shakira) in this 2018 La Nación interview - HERE).
For resources for teaching Spanish, Level 1 through AP, CLICK HERE.
Other January 24th events of note:
1977 - Masacre de Atocha. During the transition to democracy in Spain (after dictator Francisco Franco, 1939-1976), an ultra-right group killed five people and wounded four (including one pregnant woman) who were holding a communist meeting. Juan Antonio Bardem, father or actor Javier Bardem (who is married to actress Penelope Cruz!), made a movie (7 Días en enero) in 1979 about the events.
Comments
Post a Comment