Darwin Nunez breaks silence on Luis Suarez's retirement with touching tribute

Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez posted on his socials congratulating international teammate Luis Suarez on his recent retirement from the Uruguayan national team.

"You are huge Luis Suarez," the translated post read. "Thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you did for me in the National Team. You were my idol without knowing you and you are even more so now that I know you."

"As you said, you came as a child and you leave as a legend, it is everyone's dream and you fulfilled it."

Suarez, 37, announced his retirement from the national team during an emotional news conference on Monday.

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"There is no better pride in oneself than knowing when the right moment to retire is, and luckily I am confident that I am retiring from the national team because I want to take a step aside," the legendary striker said.

"I am 37 years old and I know that it is very difficult to get to the next World Cup. It comforts me a lot that I can retire and not for my injuries to retire me, or to stop being called up."

Suarez will feature one final time for his country on Friday in Uruguay's 2026 World Cup qualifier against Paraguay at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo.

Suarez has made 142 appearances for Uruguay since his debut in 2007, scoring 69 times -- the 25th most by a player for an International team in men's footballing history.

He joined Liverpool during in 2011 winter transfer window for a paltry €26.5 million (under $30 million) fee, also scoring 69 times for the Reds in just 110 appearances.

Nunez has often talked about the influence Suarez has had on his career, including his decision to join Liverpool in the summer of 2022.

Suarez has also been a longtime fan of the Liverpool striker's game, telling journalist Gerard Romero in 2021: "When [Nunez] was at Almeria, I told Barcelona about him. They asked me and I said, 'Keep an eye on this one, he's got something interesting about him.'"

"But they replied 'No, he's in Almeria, he's too young.' But instead of now having to pay £80m, £90m or £100m, they would have paid £15m or £20m for him back then."

With Suarez no longer in the picture, Nunez will join Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde and Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo as the faces of the Uruguayan national team.