The career of former FC Barcelona player, Jeffren Suarez, took a nosedive. From who used to play with Lionel Messi and won various titles, now Jeffren is “stranded” at the Thai League 2 club, Lamphun Warriors FC. Jeffren was promoted to the Barcelona first team in the 2008-2009 season, when the club based at the Camp Nou Stadium was coached by Pep Guardiola. Previously, Jeffren, who was born in Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela, showed a good performance in the Barcelona B team.
Three seasons playing for Barcelona B, the player who can occupy the position of striker and winger managed to score 14 goals from 82 appearances. His convincing performance in the Barcelona B team made Pep Guardiola attracted and pulled him into the main squad of El Barca. Jeffren made his debut in La Liga in the match against Real Mallorca, 17 May 2009.
The name Jeffren Suarez then entered the Barcelona squad to face the 2009 Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. In the final match against Estudiantes, Jeffren came in to replace Thierry Henry in the 83rd minute. Barcelona also won with a score of 2-1. Two Barca goals were created by Pedro Rodriguez (89′) and Lionel Messi (110′).
The 2009 FIFA Club World Cup trophy became one of the prestigious titles achieved by Jeffren while in Barcelona uniform. In addition to the Club World Cup, he is recorded as having tasted three La Liga titles, one Champions League, and two Supercopa de Espana. However, Jeffren Suarez’s career was like a free fall after being released by Barcelona at the end of the 2010-2011 season.
He once traveled to Portugal to defend Sporting Lisbon and tried to improve his career at Real Valladolid. However, Jeffren was never really able to find his best performance.
After leaving Real Valladolid at the end of the 2014-2015 season, he then changed clubs, starting from Grasshoppers (Switzerland), AEK Larnaca (Cyprus), Slaven Belupo (Croatia), to Al Dhaid (United Arab Emirates). Until finally, a surprising news was delivered by the Thai League 2 promotion club, Lamphun Warriors. Thai League 3 champion club 2020-2021 announced that they have officially signed Jeffren Suarez. “Ready for the next challenge,” Jeffren wrote on his personal Instagram account on July 26.
What happened to Jeffren Suarez is quite sad considering he was once predicted to be Barcelona’s future star. Jeffren’s failure to reach the pinnacle of his career made the Bleacher Report website in 2014 include his name in the list of 20 young Barcelona players who failed to shine. Besides Jeffren Suarez, the list also includes names such as Jonathan Dos Santos, Isaac Cuenca, Marc Crosas, and Bojan Krkic.
ASL
