Suarez: I’m here cos of Tevez

GLORY ... Tevez celebrates winning the 2011 FA Cup

“I’ve worked hard to get where I am today and the 90 minutes on the pitch are so important to me. That’s why I fight so hard.”

Suarez has been fighting the odds ever since he was a child too poor for boots, kicking a rag ball around the Salto streets.

He used to pick up coins from the floor to help buy things for childhood sweetheart Sofia Balbi, now his wife.

And when his father, Rodolfo, walked out on the family after they moved to Montevideo, Suarez and his six siblings lived anything but the life of luxury as mum Sandra brought them up alone.

He added: “It was hard for me as a kid to get through as a footballer in Uruguay and I do remember playing without shoes.

“I had to sacrifice a lot to get where I am, so now I don’t want to miss any of the opportunities that are open to me. That’s why I play hard on the pitch.”

It was an upbringing which instilled an unswerving sense of loyalty into Suarez. So when PSG and Juventus made overtures over the summer, he had no hesitation sticking with the club which had backed him to the hilt during the Evra row.

Suarez admitted: “There were clubs that wanted to sign me but my priority was always to stay and sign for Liverpool. The club has trust in me because of the work I do on the pitch and what happened in the past is over.

“I’m interested only in the Liverpool and Uruguay supporters.

“Other fans, of course, are fanatical about their own teams and it’s not as if they’re going to support an opposition player anyway so I’m not interested in the reception they give me.”

He can certainly expect the warmest of receptions tomorrow, when Liverpool begin their home Premier League campaign against the champions.

And Suarez wants to get the Reds back on track after the horrors of their opening-day defeat at West Brom, when he missed loads of chances.

He added: “Sometimes I’m rushing at chances too much and I know the problem is mine. It’s up to me to sort it out and start scoring goals.”

Given the way headlines follow Suarez around, you would not bet against him reigniting the Reds.

And there is nothing he would love better than a repeat of his last meeting with Tevez, when Uruguay dumped Argentina from the Copa America quarter-finals on penalties.

Suarez revealed: “Yes, I scored in the shootout. I’ll remind him about it!”

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