Luis Suarez says he doesn't consider himself among best players in world

Posted Saturday, August 01, 2015 by ESPN

Luis Suarez doesn't feel he is one of the world's finest footballers despite forming one-third of the sport's most potent attack at Barcelona, he told ESPN FC in an exclusive interview.

Despite missing the first two months of last season to suspension, Suarez contributed 25 goals and joined with teammates Lionel Messi and Neymar to score a record-setting 122 times in all competitions last seasons.

That came after two seasons at Liverpool where Suarez topped the 30-goal mark, but despite his proficiency in front of goal, the striker says he still doesn't consider himself among the best in the game.

"No, one always tries to accept praise and the things fans say, but I don't consider myself the most humble nor one of the best," Suarez told ESPN FC. "I just try and do my work the best I can. I'm in the best team in the world and doing things I never imagined doing, but that job I leave to the rest so they can give their opinion."

However, Suarez conceded that he has to be at the top of his game to keep up at Barcelona.

"You're in Barcelona and you have Leo and Neymar by your side so you have to be one of the best," he said. "I have the privilege to play with those quality players, just as much them as the whole team, including [Andres] Iniesta, which was a dream for me to play by his side, with players that I enjoy playing alongside.

"Being on the best team in the world fills you with pride, leaves you calm, shows you how hard it is to get here. And that's why you have to enjoy the moment once you're here."

When he doesn't have the ball at his feet, Suarez's career has been marred by a series of biting incidents -- with Ajax in 2010, Liverpool in 2013 and Uruguay at the 2014 World Cup -- but the Uruguayan said he has learned to curb his impulses with concentrated effort and by thinking of his children.

"I have been through many difficult and complicated moments, but I also have to say that I have a great mental capacity to overcome these adversities, and I believe that's a great quality to be able to go through everything I've been through and try to overcome that and still have people remember you by your goals, and that brings me a lot of happiness," Suarez said.

"I'm not [in treatment], I am just more conscious of my actions, thinking about everything I do. Before I kept everything bottled up and now I am able to let things go. There's many things that I didn't think about before and now I am more conscious.

"After the World Cup incident I thought about my daughter and son, and as a father I had to explain to my daughter -- not my son because he is too young -- Dad is a human being that makes mistakes, has many defects and is not perfect. I just try to think about it as things I've been through but also to teach me a lesson. And I just hope that they remember me for the good things and not the bad."

The World Cup incident led to the suspension that caused Suarez to miss all of Barcelona's preseason a year ago, as well as playing for Uruguay in this summer's Copa America, and the striker is reveling in the opportunity to start a season fresh.

"Yes, last year was different. It was weird not doing preseason with the team since the beginning," Suarez said.

"It's been six years since I've done a [full] preseason, even with the other teams always because of some competition, just like it happens with Leo, [Javier] Mascherano, Neymar, etc., because the South American competitions are around that time. They don't let you prepare yourself for the season very well.