He's the best striker in soccer today—and the most controversial. The first biography of the Uruguayan superstar.

He has transformed Liverpool into a title-chasing team, but Suarez has also consistently grabbed the headlines for all the wrong reasons. In this first biography on the player, soccer biographer Frank Worrall digs deep to reveal what makes Suarez tick as a soccer player and a man. It tells the full story of how a troubled boy from a poverty-stricken neighborhood became the most coveted striker in world soccer today. By the age of 18 he was in the first team at Nacional and played a major role in their 2006 league triumph. Yet, for all the accolades he was earning, he missed his childhood sweetheart, Sofia, who had left Montevideo after her parents moved to Barcelona. Now Luis had a new ambition: to join a club in Europe so they could be together again. Fortunately, Luis earned a move to Holland and was reunited with the girl who would eventually become his wife, becoming the star player at Groningen before moving to Dutch giants, Ajax. Events took a turn for the worse when he became public enemy number one at the 2010 World Cup after handballing on the line in Uruguay’s quarter-final against Ghana. Next, his time in Holland ended in shame when he was banned for biting an opponent, earning the unwanted nickname of 'The Cannibal of Ajax.' In January 2011, Liverpool provided him with an escape route from Amsterdam and he quickly became the hero of the Kop with his spectacular repertoire of goals. He was lauded as the best number seven at the club since the legendary Kenny Dalglish—but also lambasted for biting Branislav Ivanovic and becoming embroiled in a race row with Patrice Evra. Hero and villain, this is the full, undiluted story of Luis Suarez, the King of the Kop.

The fascinating biography of Tottenham's latest superstar player

He's fast, he's strong, he's an excellent crosser of the ball, and he scores goals—Gareth Bale is one of the most promising young talents in the Premier League, and is regarded as one of Europe's hottest football properties. Born in 1989, Bale first attracted the attention of Southampton FC at the age of just nine. At secondary school, he was such a prodigious talent that his PE teacher, Gwyn Morris, had to impose special restrictions on him to make it fair for the other pupils. These included playing one-touch football and not using his left foot. After completing his GCSE exams, Bale became the second-youngest player ever to sign for Southampton in April 2008. Despite playing at left-back he scored five goals and was extremely impressive in his first season. The Premier League soon came calling and in 2007 Bale signed a four-year deal with Tottenham. His career at White Hart Lane didn't get off to the best start, as he played in a record 24 games without a win, but in late 2009 he seized his chance to secure a regular place in the first team. Since then he proved to be a first-class footballer, with a stunning hat trick in Tottenham's Europa League tie against Inter Milan at the San Siro, and a man-of-the-match performance in the return leg. Bale has unsurprisingly also made several appearances for Wales, and his talent has been compared to that of the legendary Ryan Giggs.