Luis Suarez: El Pistero, the magician
Luis Suarez
‘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 (Liverpool Manager1959-74)
From Nacional (Uruguay) to Liverpool FC, it has been quite an eventful journey for this Uruguayan, who the public likes to hate and love in equal measure. From his subtle touch and genius on the football field to the though provoking actions of violent behaviour, it’s all a part and parcel that the Uruguayan carries around with himself.
But when the question arises, who is Luis Suarez – public opinion divides us. Some call him a cheat, a racist, diver but no one denies unquestionably the fierce competitive spirit that has defined him. His reaction when he made the handball save with a second left in the quarterfinal match of World Cup 2010 against Ghana might have questioned his sportsmanship. But isn’t that the character what defines him, the ability to win at all costs. Wearing your heart on the sleeve, when you are representing the nation, has endeared him to all Uruguayans world over.
Being a person from humble origins, Suarez is a family man, who married his childhood sweetheart in 2009 and now they have two children as well. Being a buck toothed teenager with a fierce competitive spirit, there has always been trouble associated with him. His length of disciplinary actions have been quite large, from being suspended for head butting a referee to the most recent biting incidents, there have been varying reasons for his suspensions.
There have been instances where he has scored “goals for fun” but has got suspended as well subsequently. While he was with Groningen he scored 10 goals in 29 appearances and ended up picking 4 yellow cards and a red card as well. Along with scoring goals, Suarez has picked up cards as well. Having a look at the below table illustrates it better:
|
Club/Country |
Appearances |
Goals |
|
Nacional |
34 |
12 |
|
Groningen |
37 |
15 |
|
Ajax FC |
159 |
111 |
|
Liverpool FC |
103 |
59 |
|
Uruguay Senior Team |
71 |
38 |
|
TOTAL |
404 |
235 |
The statistics indicate that he scores a goal every 1.71 game, which is pretty much a decent statistic. But let’s just sit back and calculate some of the games he has missed:
- Liverpool – 18 games – Racism incident and Biting Incident.
- Ajax FC – 7 games – Biting Incident.
25 games in addition to the suspensions of collected yellow cards and red cards, just goes to show the disciplinary side of his game which has been affected.
But aren’t all geniuses prone to some bout of madness in them and as we know there is a very thin line which separates genius from madness and Suarez maybe in this zealousness to achieve greatness has diluted this distinction by taking competitiveness spirits to questionable issues.
His ambitions to be the best have led him to even pursue legal actions against his former club, Groningen. In this instance, Groningen had blocked his transfer as the transfer fee according to Groningen was not matched by Ajax, Suarez resented this action of the club and filed a legal complaint, but before the matter could proceed further, Ajaz came back with a better offer. As recent as this summer, he enraged Liverpool fans by seeking a transfer to arch-rivals Arsenal, there was a certain fear that Suarez might again pursue legal action. As it was found out later that the clause had been wrongly interpreted and Arsene Wenger was just chancing his luck. The Liverpool coach, Brendan Rogers though was not amused and banned Suarez from the first team but as has been always the case he trained like a true professional and as soon as the ban ended, he made his mark on the first team and endearing himself to Liverpool fans.
So let us just sit back and enjoy this great piece of footballing joy who is the contemporary Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde.