I know it's going to be tough for me to make it to the next World Championship. But the fact that I'm the one making the decision to step down, and that I'm not being forced to do so due to injuries, feels good, said the 37-year-old with tears in his eyes at a press conference ahead of the farewell match this week.
Suárez will, however, continue as a club teammate to Lionel Messi at Inter Miami in the USA, and he will retain that jersey.
Suárez has played for the national team since 2007 and has scored 69 goals in 142 matches. He has played club football in, among others, Barcelona and Liverpool, and has made a name for himself as a skilled and prolific forward. However, he is also less well-liked by others in the football world.
In the 2014 World Championship, one of the four World Championships he has played in, he bit Italy's Giorgio Chiellini and was suspended for four months. In the 2010 World Championship, in the quarterfinal against Ghana, he handled the ball on the goal line in the final minutes and denied Ghana victory. Ghana missed the penalty they were awarded for Suárez's handball.
According to Suárez, the highlight of his national team career is when Uruguay won the South American Championships in 2011.
