Luis Suarez celebrated his 29th birthday on the 24th of January earlier this year. While heartfelt tributes to the Uruguayan striker’s pedigree, both as a striker and as a person have poured in, his Barcelona teammate, Neymar, wished him in a rather unique way, calling him ‘fatty’ in the process.
Neymar, who is a prolific user of social media, has a special nickname for Suarez, ‘gordito’ or ‘fatty’, and the Brazilian did not hold back on the occasion of Suarez’s birthday, tweeting his wishes while also making use of the aforementioned nickname.
Neymar’s tweet in Spanish, reads “Happy birthday, fatty! You are an amazing player and an even better person. I admire you.” The tweet, coupled with an attached picture of Neymar nuzzling Suarez’s shoulder in an affectionate manner, reveals the depth of the close friendship the pair have struck up.
Suarez and Neymar are the deadliest duo in all of Europe, the pair have combined together for 9 goals, with Neymar assisting five of Suarez’s goals, while the Uruguayan has created four of his Brazilian teammates. Only Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud come close, with their partnership yielding 7 goals.
Suarez is ‘fatty’ to many of his teammates
Earlier in the season, Luis Suarez scored a hat-trick against Eibar in a 3-1 win over the minnows, thus taking home the match ball. Following footballing conventions, Suarez got all of his teammates to sign the ball. The image of the signed ball was posted on Twitter, thus revealing that Suarez’ nickname among his Barcelona teammates, often refer to his physique.
Suarez’s striking partners are typically affectionate, calling him ‘fatty’, while Sergio Busquets’ class clown reputation also has him indulging in some light banter:
Neymar: “Well done, fatty! You owe me a hamburger! Lets go and get more!”
Lionel Messi: “Well done fatty! Congratulations. I am very happy; keep going!”
Sergio Busquets: “Grande Fatty! Ridiculous; let’s get more!”
Jordi Alda, interestingly enough, is quite enamoured with Suarez’s good looks, as opposed to his striking abilities. Rakitic, Sergi Roberto and Adriano, on the other hand, maybe aren’t as close (yet) to the Uruguayan.
Jordi Alba: “Congratulations Guapo [handsome]! You deserve it!”
Ivan Rakitic: “Congratulations Luis. I am glad and do not stop”
Sergi Roberto: “Congratulations Luis. I’m very glad”
Adriano: “Congratulations, you deserve it”