This article was first published today in our bespoke Sports newsletter The Fixture. You can sign up in seconds to receive it straight to your inbox every weekday here.  

You only need to look at the disdain in which the original Ronaldo is held by youngsters today to see what the consequences can be for sharing a name with someone who goes on to emulate and surpass already-incredible feats. Ronaldo Nazario, the Brazilian superstar nicknamed O Fenomeno due to his explosive exploits at Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan – among others – won two Ballon d'Ors, two World Cups and a host of other personal and team accolades that made him one of the all-time greats. That didn't stop the social media warriors from pejoratively dubbing him 'fat Ronaldo' simply because he had the same name as the equally superb Real Madrid forward. Describing which of the two men was superior in their pomp is akin to explaining which of Pele and Diego Maradona was the better footballer – in other words it's a subjective debate with no clear answer.

The original Luis Suarez – not the one who bit opponents or dived for penalties – is even less well known by the PlayStation generation. There is no FIFA regen of the lithe inside forward who won 32 caps and the 1964 European Championship for Spain. These kids can tell you who Lev Yashin is but not one of the greatest Spanish midfielders of all time, a player who did something that not even Xavi or Andres Iniesta were capable of by winning the Ballon d'Or in 1960.

Suarez, who died on Sunday at the age of 88, played 253 times for the Catalan giants, scoring 141 goals and winning two La Liga titles and two Spanish Cups. But it was at Inter Milan that the Spaniard would really make his name when in 1961 he became the world's most expensive signing at £152,000. Barca commentators would later determine that despite the chunky fee it was the club's biggest ever transfer mistake. In Italy, Suarez would go on to win three Serie A titles and two consecutive European Cups and was a key component of Helenio Herrera's Grande Inter team that dominated Italian football for a decade. Indeed, he was injured when Inter lost a third European Cup final to Celtic in 1967. His replacement was the balding Mauro Bicicli, an unflashy player who had made just a handful of appearances that season and was playing in his first European Cup tie. There is little doubt that had Suarez featured in the final then Inter would have been a completely different proposition to the one which Celtic faced. At the time Jock Stein argued that the absence of Suarez did not matter but as The Scotsman wrote at the time: “We would humbly suggest that it does matter a good deal. Suarez cost Inter Milan £214,000 and he is one of the greatest midfield players in the world. An undistinguished 32-year-old who was sent to Genoa five years ago on loan can hardly be an adequate substitute. The loss of Suarez along with the fact that Inter, twice winners of the cup, must be past their best, does throw the advantage to Celtic.”

The Herald:

Much like the debates about the two Ronaldos, it remains a matter for conjecture even if his standing in the European game provides a reminder of just how depleted Inter were for the final in Estoril.

He remains the only male Spanish footballer to win the award but he maintained an impressive air of humility around that fact noting that he felt privileged to have been recognised. 

"So much depends on the era you find yourself living in," Suarez once said. "You need the slice of luck that comes when another great player of your time doesn't perform quite so well. There have been truly great players who have never won that award. It's not that big a deal."

That he finished runner-up in 1961 and 1964 and won the bronze ball in 1965 suggests he might have been a touch better than he dared to admit.