Luis Suarez, one of the most prolific and controversial strikers in world football announced international his retirement at 37 years of age, revealing that his 17-year-long career will end after the World Cup qualifier against Paraguay at Centenario Stadium on Friday (September 6).
“It hurts to say it, but Friday will be my last match with my country’s national team. I am retiring because I want to step aside. I am 37 years old, there are a lot of talented players, and I know it would be difficult to get to the next World Cup. It is comforting to know I can retire on my terms and not have to retire due to injuries, or to not being called up. I want to say goodbye here, with my people. This is the ideal moment,” he said at a press conference on Monday.
Suárez debuted in 2007 and is Uruguay’s all-time leading scorer with 69 goals in 142 matches. He played in four World Cups and five Copa America. He helped to lead the team to the title at the 2011 Copa, where he scored twice in the semifinals and the match-winner in the final and was named player of the tournament.
But for all his accolades, the forward has been in the midst of countless controversies through the years. Here’s listing a few of them:
The Bites
In the early parts of the 2010s, the Uruguayan striker was more famous for his on-field misdemeanors than achievements. The most talked about incidents revolved around the times he bit his opponents while playing with the first one coming in 2010 when he was in Ajax and PSV Eindhoven’s Otman Bakkal Otman Bakkal. He was suspended for 2 matches by Ajax and then had an additional 7-match suspension given by the Dutch League.
After that, he would get a transfer to Liverpool in 2011 and had a breakthrough season for them 2012/13 where he scored 30 goals in 44 matches. But controversy reared its ugly head as Suarez was banned again for 10 matches, this time for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic.
Not learning his lesson, Suarez would repeat the same in football’s biggest stage, the 2014 FIFA World Cup where he bit the shoulder of Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini. This was when Suarez had to face his harshest punishment getting a ban from football for four months and suspended for nine competitive Uruguay matches.
The Patrice Evra incident
When Suarez wasn’t getting banned for biting players, he was getting suspended for racism. In 2011, Suarez had racially abused Manchester United’s Patrice Evra in a match between the two sides in October. Suarez categorically denied the claims but according to a FA report published in 2012, Suarez told Evra, “Porque tu eres negro”. “Mr Evra said that at the time Mr Suarez made that comment, he (Mr Evra) understood it to mean ‘Because you are a n*****’,” the report added. “He now says that he believes the words used by Mr Suarez mean ‘Because you are black,’” the report continued.
As a result, Suarez was banned for eight matches and given a £40,000 fine. That would not be the end of the matter, however. In February, when the two teams met for the return fixture, Suarez refused to shake Evra’s hand before the match. He, however, apologized for that.
The Ghana handball incident
In the 2010 World Cup quarterfinals, Suarez became the pantomime villain to everyone but Uruguay when he used his hand in the closing stages of extra-time to deflect a goal bound header by Dominic Adiyiah when the match was tied at 1-1. He was sent off but had the last laugh as Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan missed the resultant spot-kick, resulting in Uruguay qualifying for the semifinal after winning a penalty shoot-out. As the camera panned top Suarez, the striker was seen celebrating wildly near the sidelines.
The infamous Arsenal bid
In 2013, Arsenal had the world in splits when they bid £40m plus £1 to Liverpool for their star striker Suarez. This came after the Gunners’ initial bid of £30m plus £5m in add-ons, was rejected by the Merseyside club, informing the London club that Liverpool would not consider a sum of £40m for Suarez. That is why Arsenal from returned with an offer that activated a clause in Suárez’s contract by one pound where according to Suarez’s contract, Liverpool must inform him of a club’s interest once they receive a bid of more than £40m.
However, nothing came of that saga as Suarez was ultimately sold to Barcelona in 2014 where he went on to be the part of a famous trio with Lionel Messi and Neymar which was dubbed the MSN.
