Ex-Sporting star: South American legend picks Suárez over Núñez (video) | OneFootball

Luis Suárez continues to receive praise even before making his debut at a World Cup - where he ended up starting in the win over Uzbekistan. This time it was Roque Santa Cruz, one of the biggest figures in the history of Paraguayan football, who placed the Sporting forward among the best South American strikers at the tournament.

In a challenge promoted by Conmebol, the former Bayern Munich, Blackburn and Manchester City striker was invited to rank several forwards from the continent into three categories: "stars", "very good" and "good". The Colombian from the Lions earned a place in the highest tier of the hierarchy.

Roque Santa Cruz placed Luis Suárez alongside Enner Valencia, Lautaro Martínez and Julián Álvarez in the group reserved for the "stars", leaving big names such as Darwin Núñez, Matheus Cunha, Igor Thiago, Antonio Sanabria and Jordy Caicedo one level below.

In 2025/26, wearing the Sporting shirt, Luis Suárez – valued at €30 million – featured in 53 matches: 32 in Liga Portugal Betclic, 12 in the Champions League, seven in the Portuguese Cup, one in the League Cup and another in the Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.