Against Italy the other day, Suarez bit the shoulder of Girorgio Chiellini. I have no doubt that this happened in spite of what Suarez or his Uruguayan team-mates might say. It was as clear as day - he bit him! No doubt Suarez had been provoked by the defender but of course, such reactive behaviour on a sports field is very reprehensible.
But let's not get this out of proportion. Players can be deliberately kicked, punched, spat at, sworn at. elbowed, tackles can be deliberately mistimed to cause maximum hurt and in the penalty area defensive antics can be very unsavoury to say the least. Yet Suarez - finding a defender's shoulder in front of him - chows down in an unplanned moment of frustration and he is pilloried by the world press as if he had shot the guy or knifed him in the back.What's so bad about a bite when compared with a bad tackle or an elbow in the face?
Don't get me wrong - I am not forgiving Suarez. He deserves to be banned from the rest of the tournament but many are calling for a lengthy ban from all footballing competitions for perhaps two years. This would be over the top in my humble opinion. On the BBC website the latest is "Uruguay support Suarez as FIFA verdict looms". Why FIFA are taking so long over this matter is a mystery but they are after all a bunch of incompetent freeloaders so maybe we shouldn't be too surprised. They are probably waiting for backhanders from some Uruguayan millionaire, recalling what motivated them to give Qatar the World Cup in 2022.
If Suarez does receive a lengthy ban, he should consider launching a new minty toothpaste - "Try Suarez for stronger teeth!" or maybe get a part in a new vampire movie - "Fangs A Lot" starring Luis Suarez as The Gnasher.
STOP PRESS: FIFA have banned Suarez for four months. He will miss the rest of The World Cup and Liverpool's first nine games in The Premier League. When asked for a response, Suarez said, "Oh bugger!".
STOP PRESS: FIFA have banned Suarez for four months. He will miss the rest of The World Cup and Liverpool's first nine games in The Premier League. When asked for a response, Suarez said, "Oh bugger!".
AWW! Poor man.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say I was poor Adrian. We have a few thousand in the bank. If I was poor I would buy an old campervan and drive around the country looking for lay-bys.
DeleteHit a nerve. Great a closet footballaphile. I'll not forget.
DeleteHe is poor. They are as thick as fog. He wants banning for life.
He deserves a swift kick in the nuts and a ban for life. I certainly do not want him or any of the other bad sports around as a role model for my boys
ReplyDeleteApart from yourself - who do you want as male role models for them? How about that Cannock lad - Stephen Sutton? Gary Lineker was a very "clean" footballer
DeleteHippo, he needs his nuts chopping off. In public.
DeleteWhat, mine? I would fight like a tiger to protect my nuts.
DeleteI don't condone his behaviour, YP, but did you see the way the guy who was bitten rolled around on the ground as if he had been stabbed? Bloody great big kids, the lot of them.
ReplyDeleteSuch over-dramatic reactions to fouls are most unsporting. It wouldn't happen in either form of rugby. These false displays of agony have the effect of getting the guilty players yellow carded or even sent off as in the case of Valencia in Ecuador's game with France.
DeleteMolly is right. Biting is a juvenile act of frustration, not your typical adult reaction. At least he didn't bite the guy's ear off.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember either of our kids using biting as a self-assertion tactic. If they had started biting I'd have fitted them with muzzles. Maybe that's what Suarez needs - a leather muzzle.
DeleteI agree with you. (Watch me now, behaving like a football fan....haha). What the heck is the difference between biting somebody, pushing them down in the grass or kicking them in the.....well. I agree it is distasteful, but it IS a rough and tumble sport.
ReplyDeleteJust watched USA beaten by Germany. Your national team are getting better year on year. There's a bit of steel there nowadays. Maybe they could teach England something about teamwork.
DeleteI thought football, cricket etc., was sport, or am I naive?
ReplyDeleteLLX
"Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that." - Bill Shankly (former manager of Liverpool FC)
DeleteI saw the heading and switched off.
ReplyDelete