SUÁREZ BITE OVERSHADOWS URUGUAY'S WIN AGAINST ITALY

D. Ray Morton, 25th June 2014.

Luis Suárez readjusts his fangs after taking a bite out of a clearly shocked Giorgio Chiellini

Uruguay eliminated Italy from the World Cup yesterday thanks to a late winner from Diego Godín but the focus of everyone's attention will be on the bizarre biting incident between Luis Suárez and  Giorgio Chiellini. With the clock running down, the game deadlocked at 0-0 with Italy poised to go through, Suárez, during a tangle with the Azzurri centre-half, appeared to bite down on the shoulder of his opponent. Chiellini immediately reacted by trying to elbow the Uruguayan forward off him and went to ground omitting a scream of sheer confused disgust. The referee and his officials somehow missed the incident, Suárez stayed on and Uruguay went on to win. This is the third time Suárez has bitten an opponent in his career, the most recent being his bite on Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic in 2013. Football's most unusual signature move.

The game itself was defensive, scrappy and full of niggling fouls and attempts to con the referee who had a poor showing throughout failing to stomp his authority on the situation. Mario Balotelli, who had picked up a yellow card ruling him out of any potential second round game, had been taken off by Italy at half-time, Cesare Prandelli fearing he may get sent off. He must have been stunned when Claudio Marchisio was given his marching orders in the second half for a challenge that seemed a little dangerous but hardly worthy of a straight red. That decision notably crushed Italy who had been in control of the game until that point. They were forced to sit very deep but will argue that they would have had a fighting chance had Suárez been correctly disciplined for his bite.

Italy lost, however, and manager Cesare Prandelli announced his resignation immediately afterwards. Prandelli seems to have blamed himself as he was expected to stay on until 2016 regardless of results. There have been questions over squad selection and perhaps he could have given himself a better chance by bringing Giuseppe Rossi as an alternative striking option rather than having to opt for the quite immobile Ciro Immobile or the ageing Antonio Cassano. Balotelli let his manager down badly too. His immaturity, now at age 23, looks like something he will never shake off. Why Arsène Wenger would gamble on him at Arsenal is anyone's guess. This was also Andrea Pirlo's last tournament game for Italy, possibly Gianluigi Buffon's too. A disappointing end to two glorious international careers.

But where does this leave Suárez and Uruguay now? They have an impressive Colombia to face in the second round and FIFA have promised to punish the Liverpool striker. They could very well throw the book at him and give him a lengthy ban. It could also affect a potential move to either of the two La Liga giants, Real Madrid or Barcelona. Suárez's family has hinted that his time at Liverpool will be up and Barcelona have been attempting to engineer a swap-plus-cash move involving Alexis Sánchez. Question is, will Barça do away with the Chilean, one of the players of the tournament, only to switch him with a, doubtlessly talented, but highly volatile replacement?

So praise for Diego Godín, Uruguay's saviour but shame on Balotelli and especially Suárez for making the match one of the ugliest of the competition. Uruguay advance but offer very little against Colombia who should sweep them aside without too much trouble.

5 POINT EUROPEAN FOOTBALL WEEKEND ROUND-UP

1) ARSENAL ARE NOT TITLE CONTENDERS

Saturday's lunchtime game provided us with the best evidence yet that Arsenal are not quite up to scratch when it comes to being Premier League contenders. They were demolished by Liverpool at Anfield with two headed goals from Martin Skrtel, Raheem Sterling with a brace of his own and Daniel Strurridge with another in a heavy 5-1 defeat. Liverpool absolutely swamped a shellshocked Arsenal who were, incredibly, 4-0 down after only twenty minutes. Many expected for the Gunners not to compete with Chelsea and Manchester City and this was all the evidence required. Liverpool can only be delighted with the result as it stengthens their push to cement one of those top four spots. And speaking of the top four...

2) EVERTON'S RUN MAY BE OVER

Tottenham were able to brush aside Everton with a 1-0 victory at White Hart Lane on Sunday in a game generally dominated by the Merseysiders until Emmanuel Adebayor's strike half-way through the second half. From there on in, Everton seemed to switch off and had no reply to offer despite Spurs never really having to play very well. The North London club don't exactly look like Champions League material either. A good result no doubt but the performance was poor at times and the team's shape was all over the place. Aaron Lennon was fielded as a right winger with no real equivalent on the left. It was very much a case of just lumping together a starting XI and hoping for the best. Their prayers were answered in the shape of an unextaordinary victory. Whatever about Tottenham's failings this season season however, just have a look at...

3) POOR LITTLE MANCHESTER UNITED

It's genuinely hard to analyse such a mess at this point. Watching Sunday's game between Manchester United and Fulham was something of a circus. Fulham went to Old Trafford to defend and defend they did as centre halves John Heitinga and youngster Brad Burn rejected cross after cross after cross, more than seventy in total! United's "Hail Mary" repetition of the same thing over and over again seems comical in hindsight but it very nearly got them the win...at home against the worst team in the Premier League!

Steve Sidwell gave the away side the lead in the first half, against the run of play, thanks to a fine assist from loanee Lewis Holtby. Fulham proceeded to batten down the hatches and defend incredibly deep. Late in the second half, United managed to overturn the deficit with a flurry of two goals from Robin van Persie and Michael Carrick only 82 seconds apart. Fulham boss Rene Meulensteen appeared defeated afterwards until United somehow conspired to concede a ridiculous counter attack with practically the last action of the match. Kieron Richardson broke down the left and tested David de Gea only for substitute Darren Bent to nod home the rebound from close range. David Moyes pleaded that his side really deserved to win the game afterwards but was anyone even listening anymore? What will it actually take for him to be shown the door this season? Is he completely immune from the sack? If so, the United board have lost their marbles.

4) HAZARD SHOWS BALO HE'S THE BEST YOUNG PLAYER AROUND

As Chelsea brushed aside Newcastle United 3-0 thanks to a superb hat-trick from Eden Hazard, over in Italy, AC Milan and Mario Balotelli were preparing for an away trip to Rafa Benitez' Napoli. As the Rossoneri slumped to a miserable 3-1 defeat despite Adel Taraabt's debut goal, Balotelli was substituted and cried his eyes out whilst sitting on the bench. Balo has all the attributes to be a great player. Technically and physically, he has no flaws to speak of. His mentality, however, is preventing him from excelling the way a young player of his talents should. There is such a gulf in maturity between Balotelli and someone like Hazard. The Belgian, under Jose Mourinho, is growing up quickly and dominating the Premier League. Meanwhile, Balotelli sulks, picks up yellow cards, fails to cover ground for his teammates and cries when things go badly. After EURO 2012, Balotelli was the name of everyone's lips but his progress has stalled and the improvement in the likes of Hazard only illustrate his failings furthermore. I would contend that Hazard is the world's best player under the age of 24 right now.

5) BARCA TAKE THE REINS IN SPAIN AGAIN

In Spain's three horse title race, Barcelona and Real Madrid both picked up wins against Sevilla and Villarreal respectively whilst Atletico Madrid fell to a 2-0 away defeat at lowly Almeria. Diego Simeone's men were frustrated by the Andalucians and conceded two late on after laying siege to the home side's goal for the majority of the game. Perhaps their high intensity style is now taking its toll as the large squads of Barca and Real can hoover up wins despite not being at their very best. Barcelona were especially erratic on Sunday night in Seville. Known for being the hottest city in Europe, last night it was not as the heavens opened up meaning the game was played in a swimming pool of sorts. Barca started badly with go-to guys Xavi and Lionel Messi both looking unusually sloppy.

Alberto Moreno gave Sevilla a deserved lead only for the Catalans to equalise through Alexis Sanchez off a set-piece that clearly should've been given as offside once the replays were shown. Just before half-time, Messi fired home a sumptuous left-footer as the visitors lead despite the deluge. The second half became more of a cruise with Messi and Andres Iniesta in particular, really finding their feet and playing some great stuff. Messi scored the third and substitute Cesc Fabregas added a fourth late on to give Barca the lead at the top of La Liga for now. They're still not entirely convincing but with Atletico falling away and Real still not looking entirely complete either, I would not bet against Los Cules from retaining their title.

D. Ray Morton, 10th Ferbruary 2014.