Luis Suarez, among the top players participating in the 2014 World Cup, took a bite out of the Italian defense today, literally, as he and his Uruguayan teammates took on Italy in a key match to decide which team would move on to the next round of 16.
In an inexplicably bizarre moment, as the game reached its 80th minute, Luis Suarez, Uruguayan striker, was battling for position with Italian defender, Giorgio Chiellini, in front of the goal. Suddenly Suarez seems to go viper on Chiellini, redefining the role of “striker,” and sinks his teeth into Chiellini’s shoulder.
While Chiellini instinctively reacts by throwing an elbow that appears to lightly glance off Luis Suarez’s head, the scene grows more ridiculous as Suarez grabs his face, falls to the turf, and begins writhing around as if he’s the one that has been ridiculously violated.
Chiellini falls to the turf also, rolling around to demonstrate his pain, but his demonstration is no act. In fact, as the reality sets in that Luis Suarez has, in fact, just bitten him, Chiellini seems to realize that the standard “I’ve been fouled” rolling around is not enough. So he sits up, grabs his shoulder and pulls his jersey aside, conceivably screaming, “Mi ha morso! MI HA MORSO!” Or, at least that’s how Google Translate s “He bit me” in Italian.
While Luis Suarez continues sitting on the turf and rubbing his teeth, Chiellini desperately pleads for justice, holding his shoulder out of his jersey and trying to show the referee the Suarez bite marks. A Suarez teammate, meanwhile, perhaps aware that Luis Suarez has bitten opposing players twice before , attempts to make Chiellini pull his jersey back on.
In the end, the referee does nothing and Luis Suarez gets away with the apparent biting violation.
Adding insult to injury, two minutes after the Luis Suarez biting incident, Uruguay bumps in a corner kick for what went on to be the winning goal, ending the Italians’ World Cup.
While the 1-0 victory for Uruguay wins them a spot in the next round of 16 in the 2014 World Cup, whether or not Luis Suarez will be allowed to take the pitch remains to be seen, according to the New York Times . Given the ample footage, from multiple angles, that captured the Luis Suarez biting episode, there’s plenty of evidence for FIFA to investigate. And even though Suarez didn’t get penalized for it during the game, he could get suspended anyway.
Several people took to Twitter to reflect upon Luis Suarez’s alleged act, including Evander Holyfield who knows plenty about being bitten :
I guess any part of the body is up for eating.
— Evander Holyfield (@holyfield) June 24, 2014
And Piers Morgan chiming in:
I feel like Suarez just bit me in the neck. #ENGvSL
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) June 24, 2014
So despite the win, and Luis Suarez’s excellent World Cup performance so far, the Suarez bite will likely leave an unfortunate stain on Uruguay’s permanent record.
Images via The Guardian and Google Images