Humberto Suazo facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Humberto Suazo

Suazo playing for Monterrey in 2008
Personal information
Full name	Humberto Andrés Suazo Pontivo
Date of birth	(1981-05-10) 10 May 1981 (age 44)
Place of birth	San Antonio, Chile
Height	1.71 m
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	San Luis de Quillota
Number	26
Youth career
1987–1995	Club Torino
1996–2001	Universidad Católica
2000	→ Ñublense (loan)
2001	→ Magallanes (loan)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2002	San Antonio Unido	30	(23)
2003	San Luis de Quillota	40	(39)
2004–2005	Audax Italiano	62	(40)
2006–2007	Colo-Colo	54	(52)
2007–2015	Monterrey	219	(102)
2010	→ Real Zaragoza (loan)	17	(6)
2015	Colo-Colo	17	(3)
2017–2019	San Antonio Unido	22	(10)
2020	Deportes Santa Cruz	3	(0)
2020–2021	Deportes La Serena	41	(11)
2021	Raya2	10	(1)
2022–2023	Deportes La Serena	27	(2)
2023–	San Luis de Quillota	48	(23)
National team‡
2005–2013	Chile	60	(21)
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:01, 8 August 2023 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 1 August 2021

Humberto Andrés Suazo Pontivo (born May 10, 1981) is a Chilean professional footballer. He is known as a striker. His nickname is Chupete, which means Lollipop in English. He currently plays for the club San Luis de Quillota.

In 2006, Humberto Suazo was named the IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer. This award goes to the player who scores the most goals in a year. After winning a championship with Colo Colo in 2007, he joined the Mexican club Monterrey. There, he became the club's all-time top scorer. He also helped Monterrey win two Liga MX titles and three CONCACAF Champions League titles. He returned to Colo-Colo in 2015.

People knew Suazo for his great sense of where to be on the field. He could also score goals using either foot.

Early Years in Football

Humberto Suazo started playing football at a very young age. When he was six, his father took him to play for Club Torino. This was in his hometown of San Antonio. His father had also played for the same team.

In 1995, Suazo tried out for Universidad Católica. The next year, he joined their youth team. But Suazo had some difficulties there. He did not always like to practice. He would often leave and go back to San Antonio. Suazo later said he did not make the most of this chance.

Playing for Clubs

Starting His Professional Career

In 2000, Universidad Católica loaned Suazo to Ñublense. This was a team in Chile's second division. He played his first professional game against Magallanes. He even scored his first goal in that match. Later that year, he broke a bone in his leg called the fibula. This injury kept him from playing for seven months. It also meant he missed the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship. In 2000, he won the Milk Cup, a youth football tournament in Northern Ireland.

After leaving Universidad Católica in 2001, Suazo played for Magallanes. In 2002, he joined his hometown club, San Antonio Unido. In 2003, Suazo really stood out. He played for San Luis Quillota in Chile's third division. He scored an amazing 40 goals in just one season.

For the next two seasons, Suazo played for Audax Italiano. In early 2004, he had another serious injury. This kept him out of the game for a long time. With Audax, Suazo scored 40 goals. After this, he moved to Colo-Colo.

Time at Colo-Colo

Suazo's trademark celebration.

Suazo joined Colo-Colo just before the Copa Libertadores 2006 tournament. Colo-Colo left the tournament early. But Suazo showed his skill by scoring three goals in one game against Chivas.

In the 2006 Apertura tournament in Chile, Suazo was the top scorer. He scored 14 goals in 33 games. He helped Colo-Colo win their 24th national championship.

Colo-Colo also reached the finals of the Copa Sudamericana 2006. Suazo was a key player, scoring 10 goals in 12 games. He scored three goals against Gimnasia LP. Suazo impressed many people during this tournament. This made teams like Santos Laguna and Catania interested in him. But Colo-Colo bought the rest of Suazo's contract from Audax. This meant he would stay with the club until June 2007.

In the 2006 Clausura tournament final, Colo-Colo played against Audax, Suazo's old team. Colo-Colo won the first game 3–0, with Suazo scoring. They won the second game 3–2, with Suazo scoring two goals.

In the 2007 Apertura tournament, Suazo was again the top goal scorer. He scored in the final match against Palestino. His goal helped Colo-Colo win their 26th tournament. This made him a very important player in Colo-Colo's history.

Moving to Monterrey

After much talk, Suazo was sold to the Mexican club Monterrey for $5 million. This was a very high price for a Chilean player from Chile.

Suazo's first tournament with Monterrey was not as good as expected. He scored only three goals in twelve games. He also had some disagreements with teammates and coaches. People thought he might be sold to another club. But the deal did not happen. On January 4, Suazo held a press conference. He admitted his performance and attitude were not good. He promised to change and work harder.

On April 6, Suazo scored four goals against Veracruz. Monterrey won that game 7–2. Scoring four goals in one game was a record for a Monterrey player. In his second season, he became the top scorer in the Mexican tournament. He scored 13 goals in 17 games. Suazo then scored three more goals in the playoffs. Monterrey did not reach the final that year.

In the Apertura 2009 final, Suazo was a star player. In the first game, he helped Monterrey come back from being down 3–1 to win 4–3. Suazo scored two of those goals. In the second game, he made a pass for Aldo de Nigris to score. Then Suazo scored a goal himself in extra time. Monterrey won the championship 6–4 against Cruz Azul.

Loan to Real Zaragoza

On January 8, 2010, Suazo left Monterrey. He joined the Spanish club Real Zaragoza on a loan. Zaragoza had the option to buy him later. He played his first game for Zaragoza in a 0–0 draw against Xerez.

Coming Back to Monterrey

Humberto Suazo is Monterrey's all-time top scorer with 121 goals in 255 games.

Suazo made a surprising return to Monterrey for the Apertura 2010 season. Zaragoza decided not to buy him. In this tournament, he did even better than expected. He scored 10 goals. He helped Monterrey win their fourth league title in December 2010. They also won the 2010-11 CONCACAF Champions League. This meant Monterrey would play in the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup.

He continued his success by winning the CONCACAF Champions League again in 2012. They beat Santos Laguna in the final. Monterrey finished third in the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup. Suazo, along with Aldo de Nigris, Jose Basanta, and Jesus Manuel Corona, led Monterrey to a third CONCACAF title in a row. They won the 2012–13 CONCACAF Champions League. He scored a goal in the final against Santos Laguna.

Monterrey reached the semi-finals of the Clausura 2013 tournament. They lost to Club America. In the 2013 FIFA Club World Cup, Monterrey finished fifth. A highlight was their 5–1 win against Al-Ahly. This was the biggest win in the history of the FIFA Club World Cup. Suazo's last game for Monterrey was in the Apertura 2014 semi-finals. He finished with 121 goals in 252 games and six official titles.

Later Career Teams

In 2015, Suazo went back to Colo-Colo. He announced he was retiring from football on January 14, 2016. However, in 2017, he joined his old club San Antonio Unido. They were playing in the Segunda División. He left the club in early 2018 and came back in July 2019.

On August 30, 2021, Suazo returned to Mexico. He joined Raya2, which is a reserve team for Monterrey. He played ten games and scored one goal. He left the team in December 2021.

Suazo is still a player for San Luis de Quillota. In December 2024, he finished his studies to become a football manager. He studied at the National Institute of Football, Sports and Physical Activity of Chile.

Playing for Chile

Suazo also became a regular player for his country's team. In 2006, he scored 17 goals in national and international games. This was one more goal than Peter Crouch. This earned him the "World's Top Goal Scorer Award." His four international goals that year were in friendly matches. He scored against New Zealand and Sweden. He also scored two penalty goals against Ivory Coast and Colombia. In January 2007, he received the award in Austria. He also got the Silver Football award as the world's second-best league scorer. He had 34 goals, just behind Klaas-Jan Huntelaar with 35 goals.

Suazo played for Chile in the Copa América 2007. He scored three goals in this tournament. Two goals were in his first game against Ecuador. One goal was in the quarter-final match against Brazil. He was the top scorer in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification for South America. He scored 10 goals, one more than Brazilian striker Luís Fabiano.

Career Statistics

Club

International

Scores and results list Chile's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Suazo goal.

List of international goals scored by Humberto Suazo

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	24 March 2006	Estadio El Teniente, Rancagua, Chile	New Zealand	1–1	4–1	Friendly
2	30 May 2006	Stade Jean-Bouloumie, Vittel, France	Ivory Coast	1–1	1–1	Friendly
3	2 June 2006	Rasunda Stadion, Stockholm, Sweden	Sweden	1–1	1–1	Friendly
4	16 August 2006	Estadio Nacional de Chile, Santiago, Chile	Colombia	1–0	1–2	Friendly
5	27 June 2007	Polideportivo Cachamay, Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela	Ecuador	1–1	3–2	2007 Copa América
6				2–2
7	7 July 2007	Estadio Olímpico Luis Ramos, Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela	Brazil	1–5	1–6	2007 Copa América
8	17 October 2007	Estadio Nacional de Chile, Santiago, Chile	Peru	1–0	2–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
9	18 June 2008	Estadio Olímpico Luis Ramos, Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela	Venezuela	1–1	3–2	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
10				3–2
11	10 September 2008	Estadio Nacional de Chile, Santiago, Chile	Colombia	2–0	4–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
12	29 March 2009	Estadio Monumental "U", Lima, Peru	Peru	2–0	3–1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
13	6 June 2009	Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asuncion, Paraguay	Paraguay	2–0	2–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
14	9 September 2009	Estádio de Pituaçu, Salvador, Brazil	Brazil	1–2	2–4	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
15				2–2
16	10 October 2009	Estadio Atanasio Girardot, Medellin, Colombia	Colombia	2–1	4–2	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
17	14 October 2009	Estadio Monumental David Arellano, Santiago, Chile	Ecuador	1–0	1–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
18	30 May 2010	Estadio Municipal de Concepción, Concepción, Chile	Israel	1–0	3–0	Friendly
19	19 June 2011	Estadio Monumental David Arellano, Santiago, Chile	Estonia	3– 0	4–0	Friendly
20	17 July 2011	Estadio del Bicentenario, San Juan, Argentina	Venezuela	1–1	1–2	2011 Copa América
21	11 October 2011	Estadio Monumental David Arellano, Santiago, Chile	Peru	4–2	4–2	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours and Awards

Club Achievements

San Luis de Quillota

• Chilean Third Division A: 2003

Colo-Colo

• Chilean First Division: 2006-A, 2006-C, 2007-A, 2015-A
• Copa Sudamericana runner-up: 2006 (finished second)

Monterrey

• Mexican First Division: Apertura 2009, Apertura 2010
• CONCACAF Champions League: 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13

Individual Awards

• Chilean Third Division A top scorer: 2003
• Chilean Apertura Tournament Golden Boot (top scorer): 2006, 2007
• IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer: 2006
• Mexican First Division Clausura Tournament top scorer: 2008
• Copa Sudamericana top scorer: 2006
• 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL) top scorer
• Primera División de México Apertura 2009 Liguilla: top scorer (tied with teammate Aldo de Nigris)
• Primera División de México Apertura 2009: Balon de Oro for Best Player of the Tournament.
• Apertura 2010: Balon de Oro for Best Player of the Tournament.
• Apertura 2010: Best Striker of the Tournament
• 2011–12 CONCACAF Champions League top scorer

See also

In Spanish: Humberto Suazo para niños