In 2010 Luis Suarez did something completely controversial, something he will probably always be known for. During the quarterfinals of World Cup 2010, Luis Suarez prevented Ghana’s certain goal by deliberately blocking it with his hands. A deliberate handball is penalized with a red card, immediate expulsion from that game and banning from the next, and a penalty kick. Ghana missed their penalty kick allowing Uruguay to continue on to the semifinals.
Luis Suarez, Uruguayan by birth, has had a long career in football. As a young man he played for Uruguay football club Nacional. Later he played for Groningen, a football club from the Netherlands for one year. He was then purchased by neighboring club Ajax in 2007. In 2010 he received the prestigious title of Dutch Footballer of the Year. This was a big year for Luis Suarez as he also became a parent.
Earlier this year, Liverpool paid $36.3 million dollars to sign Luis Suarez. Evidently his controversial handball at the World Cup has not hurt his career. Rather it seems to have fast-tracked his career. His willingness to risk being penalized so that his team could advance to the next round has shown that he is a true team player. Due to his handball, Dominic Adiyiah’s goal was stopped, Ghana lost the game and Uruguay participated, without Suarez, in their first semifinals since 1970.
As former footballer Gus Poyet put it, Suarez “took one for the team”. Many called it a dirty play, or said that such behavior was contrary to what football stands for. However, FIFA has the last word in those matters. Suarez was properly penalized, if that helped his team to advance to the semi-finals so be it. That’s what football is all about, team members doing their utmost for their team.
Luis Suarez continues to play with the Uruguay national team as well as Liverpool. This Uruguayan hero’s career is climbing, only time will tell the heights he will achieve.
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In 2010 Luis Suarez did something completely controversial, something he will probably always be known for. During the quarterfinals of World Cup 2010, Luis Suarez prevented Ghana’s certain goal by deliberately blocking it with his hands. A deliberate handball is penalized with a red card, immediate expulsion from that game and banning from the next, and a penalty kick. Ghana missed their penalty kick allowing Uruguay to continue on to the semifinals.
Luis Suarez, Uruguayan by birth, has had a long career in football. As a young man he played for Uruguay football club Nacional. Later he played for Groningen, a football club from the Netherlands for one year. He was then purchased by neighboring club Ajax in 2007. In 2010 he received the prestigious title of Dutch Footballer of the Year. This was a big year for Luis Suarez as he also became a parent.
Earlier this year, Liverpool paid $36.3 million dollars to sign Luis Suarez. Evidently his controversial handball at the World Cup has not hurt his career. Rather it seems to have fast-tracked his career. His willingness to risk being penalized so that his team could advance to the next round has shown that he is a true team player. Due to his handball, Dominic Adiyiah’s goal was stopped, Ghana lost the game and Uruguay participated, without Suarez, in their first semifinals since 1970.
As former footballer Gus Poyet put it, Suarez “took one for the team”. Many called it a dirty play, or said that such behavior was contrary to what football stands for. However, FIFA has the last word in those matters. Suarez was properly penalized, if that helped his team to advance to the semi-finals so be it. That’s what football is all about, team members doing their utmost for their team.
Luis Suarez continues to play with the Uruguay national team as well as Liverpool. This Uruguayan hero’s career is climbing, only time will tell the heights he will achieve.
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Uruguay have always been a decent attacking force and have produced some great players over the years (Roberto ’10 out of 10 for artistic merit’ Sosa the exception!), it’s just the centre of the park and the defence which has always looked shoddy, i.e. wingers for full backs a la Dario Rodriguez. They would definitely benefit from a player in the mould of Mexico’s Gerrado Torrado. Why is it that some South American countries struggle with the defensive side of the game?
The author is clearly an admirer of Uruguayan football. The problem is that Ghana was robbed. Luis Suarez is probably a very nice guy and certainly a fine player but he cheated. In doing so he dishonored the team. They should take no comfort that they were able to move on to the next round. Half the non Uruguayan fan base was completely turned off. Ghana outplayed them and were the better team that day. They went to play football and ended up losing because Suarez came to play handball. Sport is not combat. The end doesn’t justify the means. Sport is probably where most youth learn about the concept of fairness. It was not fair that Ghana lost. What will be the lesson all the little Uruguayan Suarezes learn from that game?