He was the new Messi, he won the Champions League with him and now will play in UAE's Second Division

How many players will have the chance to tell their grandsons ‘I lifted the UEFA Champions League trophy with Lionel Messi’? Very few. Many of them have managed to be world soccer stars for long time. However, others, just touch the top of the world early and end up in lows. That’s the case of this man who signed for Al Thaid, who rely on last place in the United Arab Emirates’ Second Division.

He played with the Argentinian legend for almost four years in Barcelona until leaving after winning 2011 UEFA Champions League against Manchester United. He used to be considered a successor for Messi, after playing in a similar position, and having some attributes in common like pace.

On November 8th 2006, Barcelona easily defeated Badalona 4-0 for the Copa del Rey. On that match, Giovanni Dos Santos, Santiago Ezquerro and Javier Saviola (twice) scored the goals. The Argentinian striker was replaced on 84th minute for an 18-year-old wing striker who was making his debut. Born in Venezuela, Jeffrén Suárez would went on to be a useful backup for Frank Rijkaard and Pep Guardiola.

In 2009 he entered from the bench in the World Club Cup Final, which Barcelona narrowly won 2-1 against hard-battling Estudiantes de La Plata from Argentina, led by Juan Sebastián Verón. A year later he scored the last goal in the unforgettable 5-0 win over Real Madrid.

Two flags

After playing over 30 games for Spain’s national team in youth levels from Under-16 to Under-21, he made his senior debut for Venezuela in 2015. Initially he had rejected his native country until in 2013 he met coach Richard Páez and offered himself to play for the team. He would make his first appearance in 2015 playing a friendly match against Panama. He was left out by Rafael Dudamel from the 2016 Copa América Centenario.