By Chris Wright
It may date back to last season, but a photo and accompanying anecdote are doing the rounds this morning which show Luis Suarez in an altogether more positive light than is usually the case.
Last year, Suarez was meandering around Calderstones Park in Liverpool when he noticed that a young lad, seven-year-old Ethan Mullin to be precise, was having a kick-around with his old man and a Liverpool FC ball.
Suarez joined in, posing for a photo with Ethan, who also happens to have Down’s Syndrome, and his father, David.
The best part is that David took a while to twig who Suarez actually was – with Ethan’s cousin, Ben Mullin, posting on the Liverpool Reddit page that his uncle initially assumed the interloper was just “some annoying man”.
Ben added:
“My uncle took quite a while looking at Suarez’s face as he’s not a massive follower of football, but – after a couple of minutes – it suddenly dawned on him.
“He asked if he was Luis Suarez and he sheepishly answered ‘yes’. Suarez was doing all of his famous dribbles and passing to Ethan.
“Ethan was clearly impressed but due to his age was not certain to who it was.
“But now he knows who he is and will treasure the image for the rest of his life.”
Apparently Suarez went on to let young Ethan nutmeg him, resisting the urge to shred his achilles and/or eat him alive.
Maybe he truly is a changed man, after all?
(Via Anorak and Reddit/LiverpoolFC)