David Suazo

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Óscar David Suazo Velázquez (born 5 November 1979 in San Pedro Sula) is a Honduran footballer, who currently plays as a striker for F.C. Internazionale Milano in Milan, Italy after returning from a loan spell with Portuguese side S.L. Benfica He is also member of the Honduran national team.

His brothers are Nicholas and Ruben Suazo. Maynor Suazo and Wigan Athletic's Hendry Thomas are his cousins.

[edit] Club career

[edit] Early career

Suazo also was able to develop alongside his cousin, Maynor Suazo, who also serves for the Honduran national team. David Suazo took his first steps at Olimpia Reservas and later went on to play at the Liga Bancaria. After his participation in 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship held at Nigeria, he was acquired by domestic club team Olimpia. Suazo continued to impress playing for Olimpia's youth system under the coaching of Angel Ramon Paz (Mon Paz) and earned a spot on the top squad before turning 20 years old. ^[1]

[edit] Cagliari

Oscar Tabarez, then coach of the Italian side Cagliari, was impressed by Suazo's performance and did not hesitate in bringing him across the Atlantic. ^[1]

Suazo joined Cagliari and Serie A for the 1999–00 season. In his first season with the team, he scored one goal in 13 appearances. At the end of the 1999–00 season, Cagliari were relegated to Serie B, where they would remain until the 2003–04 season.

In their four years in Serie B, Suazo played 113 matches and scored 40 goals for the club. His scoring efficiency was impressive enough for him to earn the nickname La Pantera (the Panther). Suazo's time in Serie B provided him with great experience which would help ease his transition into more difficult competition at the top of the Italian league.

In the 2004–05 season at Serie A, Suazo scored seven goals in 22 matches in a 4-3-3 schema in which he performed as a reserve behind Gianfranco Zola, Mauro Esposito, and Antonio Langella. Suazo's scoring proved vital in helping Cagliari avoid relegation and impressed top clubs across Europe despite only scoring six goals. In 2006, he became a starter for Cagliari and scored 22 goals in the Serie A. For his play that season Suazo was honored with the Serie A award for Best Foreign Player, which he shared with Brazilian playmaker Kaká. ^[1] In 2007, he continued with his great play for Cagliari, where he scored 18 more goals in the Serie A championship and single-handedly saved Cagliari from descent to Serie B.

[edit] Internazionale Milano

On June 13, 2007, reports arose that Suazo had agreed on terms with Serie A champions Inter Milan on a deal worth €10 million.^{[citation needed]} Six days later, though, crosstown rival and European champions A.C. Milan announced that they themselves had acquired Suazo for the same monetary amount.^{[citation needed]}

While Milan claimed they had successfully negotiated with Cagliari, the letter was confirmed by Cagliari president Massimo Cellino, who denied having made any contact with Moratti regarding the matter. Meanwhile, one of Suazo's agents, Carlo Pallavicino, added to the confusion by saying, "Suazo has not had any contact with Milan and he still has not given his consent to the transfer." It was later announced that Suazo was confirmed with Inter after Milan officially withdraw their contract offer. Since Suazo himself wanted to keep his initial agreement with Inter. "It was an issue of respect. The Rossoneri understood that I had a promise with coach Roberto Mancini, Marco Branca and president Massimo Moratti."^[2]. he was in fact free to join Inter for a fee of £9.4 million. ^{[3][4][5][6][7][8]} He scored his first goal against Genoa C.F.C. and made a total of eight goals throughout his first season with the nerazzurri.

After his loan with Benfica ended, Suazo returned to Milan to train for the upcoming World Football Challenge in the United States.

[edit] International career

Suazo currently has 42 caps and 14 goals scored for Honduras. Suazo's success at Olimpia made him a selection for the Honduran team participating in the FIFA U-20 World Cup. While the Honduran team failed to impress in the tournament, losing all three of their games, Suazo as team captain, scored 2 of their 4 goals. He was also a member of the Honduran squad that competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics. He played 3 games and scored 3 goals, but it wasn't enough for Honduras to progress to the next round.

Suazo played 13 times and only scored 2 goals in the 2002 World Cup qualifying run. Honduras was 3 points shy from qualifying. Suazo was part of Honduras squad in their 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Suazo played only 5 times and scored 5 goals in Honduras disappointing 2006 World Cup qualifying run.

Suazo has appeared with the Honduran national team in the CONCACAF 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, and has scored three 3 goals total. Due to an torn meniscus, he has missed most of Round 4 of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying.

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
01.	July 16, 2000	Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador, El Salvador	El Salvador	5 – 0	5 – 2	2002 FIFA World Cup qualifiers
02.	September 2, 2000	Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula, Honduras	El Salvador	4 – 0	5 – 0	2002 FIFA World Cup qualifiers
03.	June 12, 2004	Stadion Ergilio Hato, Willemstad, Netherlands Antilles	Netherlands Antilles	1 – 0	2 – 1	2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers
04.	June 12, 2004	Stadion Ergilio Hato, Willemstad, Netherlands Antilles	Netherlands Antilles	2 – 0	2 – 1	2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers
05.	June 19, 2004	Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula, Honduras	Netherlands Antilles	2 – 0	4 – 0	2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers
06.	August 18, 2004	Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, Alajuela, Costa Rica	Costa Rica	1 – 1	5 – 2	2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers
07.	September 8, 2004	Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula, Honduras	Guatemala	2 – 2	2 – 2	2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers
08.	October 7, 2006	Lockhart Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, USA	Guatemala	3 – 2	3 – 2	Friendly
09.	September 12, 2007	Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula, Honduras	Ecuador	1 – 0	2 – 1	Friendly
10.	March 26, 2008	Lockhart Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, USA	Colombia	1 – 0	2 – 1	Friendly
11.	June 4, 2008	Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula, Honduras	Puerto Rico	3 – 0	4 – 0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers
12.	June 4, 2008	Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula, Honduras	Puerto Rico	4 – 0	4 – 0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers
13.	July 13, 2003	Estadio Nilmo Edwards, La Ceiba, Honduras	Haiti	2 – 0	3 – 1	Friendly
14.	June 14, 2008	Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel, Bayamon, Puerto Rico	Puerto Rico	1 – 0	2 – 2	2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers
15.	September 5, 2009	Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula, Honduras	Trinidad and Tobago	4 – 0	4 – 1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers

[edit] Honours and awards

[edit] Club

[edit] CD Olimpia

• Honduran Liga Nacional: 1998-99
• Honduran Super Copa: 1996-97
• Honduran Cup: 1998

[edit] Cagliari

• 2001-02

[edit] Internazionale

• Serie A: 2007-08

[edit] S.L. Benfica

• Portuguese League Cup: 2008-09

[edit] Individual

• Serie A Foreign Footballer of the Year: 2006

[edit] References

v • d • e Honduras squad – 2000 Summer Olympics 1 Escobar • 2 Guerrero • 3 Montoya • 4 Izaguirre • 5 López • 6 Paez • 7 Pavón • 8 Rosales • 9 D. Suazo • 10 de León • 11 Martínez • 12 M. Suazo • 13 Scott • 14 Ramírez • 15 J. Suazo • 16 Turcios • 17 Chirinos • 18 Valladares • Coach: Maradiaga

v • d • e Honduras squad – 2001 Copa América 1 Enamorado • 2 Philips • 3 Cárcamo • 4 Caballero • 5 Reyes • 6 Lagos • 7 Suazo • 8 Brown • 9  • 10 de León • 11  • 13 Bernárdez • 14 Rodríguez • 15 García • 16 Pineda • 17 Güity • 18 Martínez • 19 Turcios • 20 Guevara • 21 Pérez • 22 Valladares • 23 Izaguirre • 24 Medina • 26 Morales • Coach: Maradiaga

v • d • e Honduras squad – 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup 1  • 2  • 3 Medina • 4 Palacios • 5 Vallecillo • 6 Rosales • 7 Suazo • 8  • 9 Jairo M. • 10 de León • 11 Velásquez • 13 E. Martínez • 14 Morales • 16 Turcios • 17 J. Martínez • 19 Alvarez • 21 Hernández • 22 Bodden • 23 Bonilla • 24 Guifarro • 25 Coello • Coach: Pavón