June 24, 2014: You can't say Luis Suárez sucks. But he does bite.
Before him, there was another Luis Suárez who played for FC Barcelona. Luis Suárez Miramontes, born in Spain in 1935, helped them win Spain's La Liga in 1959 and 1960; then helped Internazionale Milano win Italy's Serie A in 1963, 1965 and 1966; and the 1964 and 1965 European Cup, the tournament now known as the UEFA Champions League; and led Spain to win the European Nations' Cup, the tournament now known as the UEFA Euro, in 1964. (UPDATE: He died in 2023, at the age of 88.)
Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz was born in Uruguay in 1987, and led Nacional to that country's league title in 2006. He went to Europe, and won the Netherlands' Eredivisie with Ajax Amsterdam in 2011. England's Liverpool swooped in, expecting he would lead them to trophies, but, for reasons beyond his control (in spite of his constant diving), they only won the 2012 League Cup while he was there.
He was signed by Barcelona, and from 2014 to 2019, he helped them win 4 La Liga titles and the 2015 UEFA Champions League. He won La Liga again in 2021 with Atlético Madrid, before returning to South America, winning the Uruguayan Primera División with Nacional in 2022. He helped his country reach the Semifinal of the 2010 World Cup, and win the Copa América, South America's continental tournament for national teams, in 2011.
But that's not what he will be known for. He will be known for his cheating. His diving for penalties. His handballs. And for biting his opponents.
That's "opponents." Plural. Luis Suárez has sunk his teeth into not one, not two, but three different opposing players during the course of his professional career. Through the 2021-22 season, he has played 848 career games for club and country, meaning the chances of Suarez biting another player are one in every 282 matches. For context, the odds of getting bitten by a shark are 1 in 3.7 million.
During his time as Ajax captain, Suarez was banned for seven games for biting PSV Eindhoven midfielder Otman Bakkal’s shoulder on November 20, 2010. Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf (The Telegraph) called him "the Cannibal of Ajax," and it was a nickname that stuck through his career.
The referee missed it, but the KNVB, the governing body for Dutch soccer banned him retroactively for seven games, and it proved to be his last appearance for the Eredivisie giants (still receiving an Eredivisie winner's medal), before being sold to Liverpool.
On October 15, 2011, Suárez was accused of racial abuse by Patrice Evra, a black defender for Manchester United, during their 1-1 draw with Liverpool. The Football Association's investigation found in Evra's favor, and Suárez was suspended for 8 domestic matches and fined £40,000.
Evra was also a known diver, and, like most Manchester United players, was hated by just about every soccer fan in the world who supported a team other than Man U. Suárez had done the impossible: He made Evra a sympathetic figure.
On April 21, 2013, Suarez struck again, with Branislav Ivanovic his next victim, during a 2-2 draw between Liverpool and Chelsea. Again, the incident was missed by the referee and, to add insult to injury, Suarez scored a later equalizer to rescue a point for the Reds. The FA slapped him with a 10-game ban this time, which crucially carried over into the start of the 2013-14 campaign, in which Liverpool went onto lose the Premier League title by 2 points. One loss, or two draws, turned into wins would have made them Champions.
And then, on June 24, 2014, during the World Cup, at Arena das Dunas in Natal, Brazil, he left bite marks on the shoulder of Italy's Giorgio Chiellini. Yet again, the referee missed the incident at the time. Diego Godín scored in the 81st minute, and Uruguay won, 1-0, guaranteeing their advancement out of Group D to the knockout stage, and preventing Italy from advancing.
But FIFA, the governing body for world soccer, stepped in after the game, and suspended Suarez from all football-related activity for 4 months. He was additionally banned for nine international games. Without him, Uruguay were knocked out by Colombia in the Round of 16.
Earlier in the game, there was another call that the officials missed, a handball committed by Suárez. I saw somebody on Twitter combine the two offenses, and call him "Handball Lecter." Now, the fictional cannibal killer Hannibal Lecter might be willing to engage in deception to get what he wants. But for all his sociopathy, Dr. Lecter had class. He would be appalled by Suárez's character and manners -- the only thing against which Lecter would discriminate, as opposed to Suárez's unrepentant racism.
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June 24, 2014 was a Tuesday. Other games played in the World Cup that day:
* England and Costa Rica played to a draw, 0-0 at Estádio Mineirão in Belo Horizonte. Costa Rica also advanced out of Group D, while England finished 4th and last. Not the most ignominious defeat England had ever suffered in a World Cup match in Belo Horizonte -- see 1950 -- but bad enough.
* Colombia beat Japan, 4-1 at Arena Pantanal in Cuiabá.
* And Greece beat the Ivory Coast, 2-1 at Estádio Castelão in Fortaleza.
And these Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-6 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. The Yankees were down 6-0 after 5 innings, tied it in the 7th. But a bunt by ex-Yankee Melky Cabrera led to an error by Yankee 3rd baseman Yangervis Solarte, and ex-Met José Reyes scoring the winning run. Adam Warren was the losing pitcher. Derek Jeter, in his final season, hit a home run.
* The New York Mets beat the Oakland Athletics, 10-1 at Citi Field.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Miami Marlins, 7-4 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 4-2 at Camden Yards in Baltimore.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 6-5 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
* The Washington Nationals beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-2 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee. Ryan Zimmerman hit a home run in the top of the 16th inning.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Kansas City Royals, 2-0 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. Clayton Kershaw pitched 8 innings of 6-hit shutout ball, before Kenley Jansen pitched a perfect 9th.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Texas Rangers, 8-2 at Globe Life Park (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the Houston Astros, 3-2 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.
* The Colorado Rockies beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 10-5 at Coors Field in Denver.
* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Cleveland Indians, 9-8 at Chase Field in Phoenix. Aaron Hill singled Gerardo Parra home with the winning run in the bottom of the 14th inning.
* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-6 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.
* The San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants, 7-2 at AT&T Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco.
* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Boston Red Sox, 8-2 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle.
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