It was the 74th minute and Suarez had struck again. This time it was a bullet header from the penalty spot. On camera it seemed as if he had hit the ball harder with his head than Dani Alves had with his cross. Whether or not that was true, the result was stunning: Luis Suarez had scored another golazo, and the whole world hated him for it.
See, before Suarez made the game 2-1 in favor of Barcelona — a lead that Barcelona would take to the bank — Suarez was an asshole. A massive, unsportsmanlike asshole.
First, there was his blatant kick on Atletico Madrid defender Juanfran:
How the fck didn't Suarez get a straight red for this blatant kick???
Not even a caution?!#FCBAtleti pic.twitter.com/9OdRQdfXgn— Formerly Gza (@GoonerManN5) April 5, 2016
Make no mistake, Suarez should have been sent off, but he got away with it.
Then, Suarez palmed-punched Felipe Luis in the throat — or was it the face? — your hatred of Suarez will probably answer that question for you.
Puñetazo de Suárez a Filipe pic.twitter.com/u3pb2jD6GK
— ⒶⓃⓉⒾ≈ⒻⒸⒷ™ (@Cleomenes_1) April 5, 2016
It was all just so incredibly Suarez. Only he would sink to such depths in the name of competition. Only he could do such dastardly deeds in order to get under his opponents skin and into their heads.
The goals? Oh, he didn’t deserve those, he’s just a dog that will do anything to win.
And you know what? Those people are usually right. What they say is mostly true.
What they see and hate, and what his fans understand and love, is Suarez’ brilliance. It’s what makes him the best striker in the world, and one of football’s most interesting players.
Atletico Madrid was the victim of a Luis Suarez the likes of which is as intimidating as he is good. They were not the first, but from the way some people reacted on the internet, you might have guessed they were. That they had never seen Suarez act like this, so dirty, so uncivilized.
But this is what Suarez does, he gets under his opponents’ skin, he throws them off their game, all in the name of winning.
Did it work against Atletico? Felipe Luis, the man who took a Suarez palm to the face, had this to say after the game.
"I think Barcelona is protected. I don't know what has to be done for one of their players to get sent off.”
That quote wreaks of someone who feels hard done by, and it is an echo of those who were hard done by Suarez in the past:
There was Giorgio Chiellini:
"There's the will to protect champions but... The referee should have shown [Suarez] a red card. There's a clear simulation after, a clear sign that he had done something that he wasn't supposed to.”
"We are not happy with how things have gone but we were the only ones to deserve to progress to the next round."
That Chiellini talking about Suarez biting him during the 2014 World Cup. Suarez’ Uruguay scored minutes after the bite and progressed to the next round.
There was Petr Cech:
"I was not happy because he is always pushing people around to make space for himself. This is what I was complaining to the referee about because he does it all the time, little fouls and pushes."
That was Cech after Suarez bit his Cheslea teammate, Branislav Ivanovic, in 2013. Suarez eventually went on to score a late equalizer, robbing Chelsea of two points.
And finally there was Diego Forlan:
"It was incredible. Instead of scoring a goal this time he saved one."
There is no mistake. Forlan said that after Suarez, his teammate for Uruguay at the time, committed a blatant hand ball against Ghana in the quarterfinals of the 2010 World Cup. Suarez’ hand ball got him sent off, but it stopped a goal. Ghana missed the ensuing penalty, and eventually lost in a penalty shootout. Ghana were the last African team remaining in the tournament at the time. Suarez blatantly broke the rules in order to win, and ended Africa’s dream of winning a World Cup on its home soil in the process. Suarez was a national hero in Uruguay, and vehemently hated throughout all of Africa.
The love and hate for Luis Suarez is real. Cheating, bullying, biting, pushing, and kicking are tools that Suarez uses almost as often as his skills in order to win. He is a walking reminder of how far some people are willing to go in order to get what they want. You cannot watch Luis Suarez throughout an entire season and not have your morals questioned. And it is so thrilling.
...uh, what was I saying? Photo: via the Independent
Suarez has scored 45 goals in 45 games so far this year. He has won the treble with Barcelona. He has won more often than he has lost when he has resorted to the dark side of the game. People call him an asshole, and much worse, but are they really angry at him for committing his crimes, or are they angry that he has the gall to do what they are too afraid to do, what they have been told not to do?
What does it say about you, if Suarez makes you hate him? Yes, there are many teams and players who have a very real right to hold a grudge against him, but grudges are what he wants. A competitor should realize that he wants to hold that real-estate in your head. That’s how he wins.
And fans? How have you really interacted with Suarez, how has he really affected your life? Did he ruin a week for you because he beat your favorite team? A month? An entire year? How could he do that to you? Because you care, just like Suarez does, with incredible, burning, arguably over-the-top passion.
Luis Suarez is who he is because he forces you to look at what someone can do when they completely commit themselves, when they stop giving a f*** about what anyone else thinks, when they play like a dog and battle for every ball, when they work so hard it makes you want to cry out in injustice because he is so g**d*** talented on top of it all.
He’s a try hard. He’s a bully. He’s a loving husband and a father of two. He’s a national hero. He’s the greatest striker in the world, and he’s not going to stop.
Follow me on Twitter: @yetly
