The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Suarez

  • Puyol:No defence for Suarez bite

    The retired centre-half says that while nobody can condone the Uruguay international’s actions, the fact that the forward has apologised should be taken into consideration

    Former Barcelona captain Carles Puyol has acknowledged that “there is no justification” for Luis Suarez’s bite on Giorgio Chiellini during this summer’s World Cup – but argued that such things can happen when players lose their heads.

    Suarez was hit with a nine-game international ban and also suspended from all football-related activity for four months for sinking his teeth into Chiellini’s shoulder during Uruguay’s Group D clash with Italy in Natal on June 24.

    Despite the striker’s actions, Barcelona still opted to sign the 27-year-old from Liverpool for a reported €88 million – a move that Puyol is fully supportive of, given the South American’s incredible talent.

    “There is no justification for what Suarez did, but things like that occur when you lose your head – it can happen,” the former Spain international told Fifa’s official website.

    “At any rate, he has apologised for it. He’s a great footballer, extremely competitive and scores a great deal.

    “I think he can bring a lot to an attack that’s already brimming with quality. With Luis, we can be even stronger.”

    Of course, Puyol’s retirement at the end of last season has left Barca with other issues to address at the other end of the field.

    The 36-year-old freely admits that the Catalans have repeatedly failed to strengthen their back four in recent seasons but argues that it is particularly difficult for the Blaugrana to find suitable reinforcements given their propensity for playing a high defensive line.

    “For some time now Barca have been looking for centre-backs,” he mused. “Then again, so has half of Europe, so it’s not easy – even less so for us, given our style of play.

    “To represent Barcelona, it’s not enough to possess technique and the ability to come out with the ball, you also need to have pace, as we defend so far from our goal.

    “When you look over your shoulder and realise just how far out you are, you feel dizzy sometimes!”

  • ‘It’s difficult to replace Suarez’

    Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher believes that only Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo could replace Luis Suarez.

    The Uruguay international left Anfield this summer to sign for Barcelona for a deal worth around €81m.

    And the ex-defender has insisted that his former side will struggle without their talismanic forward next term.

    “It will obviously be very difficult to replace Luis Suarez,” he told talkSport. “Liverpool are spending the money in a different way by strengthening the squad in lots of different positions, but they’ve almost had to do that because you’re not going to get anyone better than Suarez.

    “I’m sure Brendan will be looking to sign a top-class forward now, but we’re talking about replacing one of the best players in world football.

    “Maybe only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been above him over the last few years, so chances of finding someone better are very slim.

    “But with Champions League football returning this season, Liverpool need a bigger squad and more quality and it seems like they’re addressing that at the moment.”

  • Luis Enrique backed Suarez signing

    Luis Enrique backed Suarez signing

    Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu says coach Luis Enrique was delighted when he learned of the club’s plan to sign Luis Suarez.

    The Blaugrana confirmed on Friday that they have agreed a deal with Liverpool for the Uruguay international, who will sign a five-year contract with the Catalans despite currently being banned from all football-related activity until the end of October for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini during the World Cup.

    However, the fallout from that controversy has done little to dampen the enthusiasm of Bartomeu, who explained that everyone at Camp Nou has had their hearts set on adding the 27-year-old forward to a front-line that already contains Lionel Messi and Neymar for some time now.

    “Suarez is one of the best strikers in the world and, at the end of last season, Andoni Zubizarreta, our sporting director, started to think we had to bring a striker to our club,” the Blaugrana supremo told Sky Sports.

    “Luis Suarez was on the table and our new coach Luis Enrique, when he signed, we quickly explained everything and he said ‘of course you can bring Luis Suarez to our club. Bring him – he’s a fantastic player.’

    “It is incredible to join those three players [Suarez, Messi and Neymar] at the same club. It’s something fantastic and something unusual.

    “It’s rare in the world of football to have three top players plus [Andres] Iniesta, plus [Sergio] Busquets, plus [Gerard] Pique, plus [Javier] Mascherano and the young ones that are coming – it’s incredible to have this team.”

  • Fury as boy,7,does a Suarez in school

    A SEVEN year old pupil in Suffolk, England, has sparked fury after sinking his teeth into a classmate on the wrist, hours after  watching his football idol, Luis Suarez bit an opponent in  the ongoing World Cup in Brazil.

    Schoolboy Harvey Eaglen, a Liverpool supporter, was reported by The Sun of London as having told shocked teachers he tore into   a playmate because it was “what footballers do”.

    Suarez who has since been expelled from the competition has been banned from football activities for four months by FIFA.

    Harvey was punished with a ban from the “pitch” and his break-times for the rest of the day cancelled.

    His stunned mum Kathleen Cooke was called to Poplars Community Primary School in Lowestoft, Suffolk and told her son was on a final warning.

    The implication is that he could be expelled if he puts another foot wrong.

    And the mum fumed: “I thought what Suarez did was disgusting. When I found out my son had done it too I was furious. We’re trying to teach Harvey right from wrong but what are we supposed to do when he sees his heroes doing things like that?

    “Suarez is supposed to be a role model  all footballers are  but he never acts like one. It’s not fair on boys like my son.”

    Harvey is described as a promising defender with no previous record of biting.

  • Hazard, Liverpool trio listed for PFA award

    Hazard, Liverpool trio listed for PFA award

    Liverpool trio Luis Suarez, Steven Gerrard and Daniel Sturridge are on the shortlist for the English Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) player of the year award, Reuters reports.

    Striking duo Suarez and Sturridge have scored 49 league goals between them this season, with Uruguay international Suarez leading the Premier League scoring charts with 29 goals for Brendan Rodgers’ table-topping side.

    Captain Gerrard, 33, has contributed 13 league goals and 11 assists for Liverpool this season with the England midfielder aiming to lift his first Premier League title.

    With four games left Liverpool has a two-point advantage over second-placed Chelsea, whose Belgium forward Eden Hazard is also among the nominations for player of the year with Ivorian Yaya Toure (Manchester City) and Adam Lallana (Southampton).

    Sturridge and Hazard were also shortlisted for young player of the year, the PFA said on its website (www.thepfa.com), along with Liverpool’s England winger Raheem Sterling, Ross Barkley (Everton), Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal) and Luke Shaw (Southampton).

    Gareth Bale won both awards last year playing for Tottenham Hotspur before his world record transfer to Real Madrid in the close season following in the footsteps of Andy Gray (1977) and Cristiano Ronaldo (2007) who also achieved that feat.

     

  • Gerrard: Suarez thrives on stick

    Gerrard: Suarez thrives on stick

    Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has warned Premier League rivals if they try to wind up Luis Suarez they should be prepared for a backlash.

    The 25-year-old striker was at the centre of most things in Sunday’s 2-2 draw in the 219th Merseyside derby, scoring once, seeing a cross-shot deflected in and having an added-time winner wrongly ruled out for offside.

    Suarez also produced a humorous response to Everton manager David Moyes by diving at the Scot’s feet after his assertion the 25-year-old was turning people off football by going to ground too easily.

    Gerrard said the South American seemed to thrive on the criticism.

    “Luis Suarez was fantastic for us again,” said the midfielder.

    “He doesn’t need David Moyes to fire him up. But if people want to try to get in Luis’ head and wind him up then it’s the wrong thing to do.

    “You saw from yesterday’s evidence that it seems to inspire him rather than go against him.

    “I can’t control what he does when he scores a goal, I was just happy to see it (Suarez’s deflected strike for the opener) hit the back of the net.”

    Gerrard also criticised Phil Neville after the Everton captain was booked for diving in the first half.

    In his post-match press conference Moyes said he had spoken to Neville about it and the player himself admitted his actions were wrong.

    “With what he said about Luis Suarez before, David Moyes was trying to get in the referee’s head, which is fine, that’s all part of the game stuff like that,” said Gerrard.

    “But if that’s the case you don’t expect your captain to dive like that.

    “I think Phil Neville badly let his manager down.

    “His manager did every paper, every radio station and every TV channel talking about Luis Suarez and then his captain, who is meant to be setting an example, blatantly dives.

    “If David Moyes is a real man and a real manager, which I think he is, then he will be speaking to Phil Neville about his dive.”

    Gerrard also reserved some criticism for the officials after a couple of key decisions went against Liverpool.

    “I’ve seen it (Suarez’s disallowed goal) again and we can feel sorry ourselves because it was a clear goal,” said the England captain.

    “We should have taken away the three points rather than just one.

    “There is no offside and it’s difficult for me to explain it. The only person who can explain it is the linesman.

    “I asked him after the game if it was offside and he said ‘I think so’. That’s not good enough.

    “If every decision in this league is based on ‘we think so’ then we’re in trouble.

    “The linesman got it badly wrong. The benefit of the doubt is supposed to go to the attacking player anyway.

    “And for their second goal, it’s a clear throw-in to us.

    “The linesman (not the one who flagged Suarez offside) gives us the throw but the referee (Andre Marriner) saw something different.

    “He gave Everton the throw and their second goal came from that.”

    Liverpool fielded five derby debutants in their starting line-up and the introduction of Sebastian Coates made it six when he came on at half-time.

    The average age of the Reds team on Sunday was just under 25 with the likes of teenagers Raheem Sterling, Suso and Andre Wisdom included.

    “I feel sorry for our lads because I thought we were fantastic and deserved to win,” said Gerrard.

    “We had a young, small team out there but they were all men and stuck together.

    “There was one team here who came to play football and win the game and that was us.”

    Manager Brendan Rodgers, also experiencing his first Merseyside derby, agreed.

    “Raheem is 17 years old, Suso is 18, Andre 19, Jonjo Shelvey 20, while Joe Allen and Jordan Henderson are 22,” he said.

    “They are all young players who will only grow and get better and better.

    “So it was another terrific stride forward for us.

    “I look at my team and how they stood up to everything against a very experienced team in a real cauldron of an atmosphere and I am very proud.”