LUIS SUAREZ PROMISED TO BE A BETTER PLAYER TO URUGUAY, TM SPORTS UPDATES.
SPORTS
Luis Suarez told the press conference that he will change
his behavior and becomes a better player to Uruguay…
The much-maligned striker(LUIS SUAREZ) has worked hard to
conquer the demons that put his career at risk, and he has become a more
intelligent, more complete footballer at Camp Nou
COMMENT
For some footballers, defeating their opponents on the pitch
is only half of the overall battle. The toughest fight, be it for Diego
Maradona, George Best or Luis Suarez, is to vanquish those demons
which push one towards self-destruction. In the former pair's case it was
addiction, to drugs or drink, which shortened their scintillating careers and
fully manifested once their playing days were over.
Suarez was a little different. Probably the most talented, deadly centre-forward currently active in professional football, the former Ajax and Liverpool star faced an opponent more potent than any defender or goalkeeper: his own rage. From stories of brutal fights as a teenager with Nacional, countless allegations of violent conduct and even a racial abuse charge, there is little telling what Suarez would do once the red mist descended.
Until one day, he went too far. Having played superbly to destroy England and keep Uruguay's World Cup 2014 knockout hopes alive, the striker bit Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini and was thrown out of the competition. With two previous convictions for similar dental-related transgressions, Fifa threw the book at him: a four-month ban from all football activity, and nine competitive international matches. It is hard to imagine with the benefit of hindsight the risk Barcelona took in signing a player widely regarded as damaged goods back then, but that was the case.
Now he is back, a more mature, rounded individual - and happily for the Celeste, an even better player than he was in 2014.
The fire has not gone out in Suarez's belly. It never will. But this fiercely passionate individual has learned, through close proximity to the tough Luis Enrique - another man who was never afraid to show his emotions on the field - that his aggression can be channeled. "I will try to manage my anxiety and the nerves which the fans' euphoria can sometimes provoke in me," he told reporters in a press conference this week. "I will keep running, pressuring, arguing, but with more moderation, as I do in Barca." http://www.goal.com/en-tz/news/5786/main/2016/03/25/21678842/luis-suarez-returns-to-uruguay-a-better-player-and-better-person-?ICID=HP_FT_3
Suarez was a little different. Probably the most talented, deadly centre-forward currently active in professional football, the former Ajax and Liverpool star faced an opponent more potent than any defender or goalkeeper: his own rage. From stories of brutal fights as a teenager with Nacional, countless allegations of violent conduct and even a racial abuse charge, there is little telling what Suarez would do once the red mist descended.
Until one day, he went too far. Having played superbly to destroy England and keep Uruguay's World Cup 2014 knockout hopes alive, the striker bit Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini and was thrown out of the competition. With two previous convictions for similar dental-related transgressions, Fifa threw the book at him: a four-month ban from all football activity, and nine competitive international matches. It is hard to imagine with the benefit of hindsight the risk Barcelona took in signing a player widely regarded as damaged goods back then, but that was the case.
Now he is back, a more mature, rounded individual - and happily for the Celeste, an even better player than he was in 2014.
The fire has not gone out in Suarez's belly. It never will. But this fiercely passionate individual has learned, through close proximity to the tough Luis Enrique - another man who was never afraid to show his emotions on the field - that his aggression can be channeled. "I will try to manage my anxiety and the nerves which the fans' euphoria can sometimes provoke in me," he told reporters in a press conference this week. "I will keep running, pressuring, arguing, but with more moderation, as I do in Barca." http://www.goal.com/en-tz/news/5786/main/2016/03/25/21678842/luis-suarez-returns-to-uruguay-a-better-player-and-better-person-?ICID=HP_FT_3
He is no shrinking violet on the pitch, but he has grown up immeasurably since that sickening incident in Brazil. ironically the stage for his first game back in the Uruguay picture is a do-or-die World Cup qualifier. He is a little more Jekyll than Hyde these days, the Incredible Hulk under light sedation, a Gremlin that Barcelona have refrained from feeding after midnight.
He is no shrinking violet
on the pitch, but he has grown up immeasurably since that sickening incident in
Brazil. ironically the stage for his first game back in the Uruguay
picture is a do-or-die World Cup qualifier. He is a little more Jekyll than
Hyde these days, the Incredible Hulk under light sedation, a Gremlin that
Barcelona have refrained from feeding after midnight.
If the man has endured a transformation since leaving Liverpool for Camp Nou, then the change in his playing style has been even more marked. The inveterate poacher has slotted straight into the Barcelona system, laying on as many goals as he scores even as he nets at a prodigious rate. Luis Enrique and the Catalans' overbearing philosophy, again, must take much of the credit.
"My forwards should only ever run 15 metres, unless they are stupid or still asleep." The great Johan Cruyff, who sadly passed away on the eve of Suarez's international comeback, believed his strikers should never be so far away from the action that they be forced to scurry across the pitch to compensate. Suarez lives this mantra to the letter. In a team where positions have always been fluid, he shifts between the No. 9 and 10 spots with Lionel Messi.
When Barcelona are primed, the Uruguayan pins himself on the shoulder of his marker. There is perhaps no finer judge of the offside line than the man they call 'El Pistolero', as he lies in wait for the signal to break like a tiger stalking his prey. He is, of course, in a privileged position, with some of football's finest passers at his beck and call. But watch closely the next time Suarez springs the offside trap: it is not with brute speed, but sheer intelligence and reaction that he prevails time and time again.
If the man has endured a transformation since leaving Liverpool for Camp Nou, then the change in his playing style has been even more marked. The inveterate poacher has slotted straight into the Barcelona system, laying on as many goals as he scores even as he nets at a prodigious rate. Luis Enrique and the Catalans' overbearing philosophy, again, must take much of the credit.
"My forwards should only ever run 15 metres, unless they are stupid or still asleep." The great Johan Cruyff, who sadly passed away on the eve of Suarez's international comeback, believed his strikers should never be so far away from the action that they be forced to scurry across the pitch to compensate. Suarez lives this mantra to the letter. In a team where positions have always been fluid, he shifts between the No. 9 and 10 spots with Lionel Messi.
When Barcelona are primed, the Uruguayan pins himself on the shoulder of his marker. There is perhaps no finer judge of the offside line than the man they call 'El Pistolero', as he lies in wait for the signal to break like a tiger stalking his prey. He is, of course, in a privileged position, with some of football's finest passers at his beck and call. But watch closely the next time Suarez springs the offside trap: it is not with brute speed, but sheer intelligence and reaction that he prevails time and time again.
Now is the time to show
his skills once more for the Charrua. Uruguay have made a good start to
qualifying, with three wins out of four, albeit with the odd sight of Diego
Godin leading their scoring chants with three goals, followed by Martin
Caceres.
With Godin and Jose Gimenez out in Recife, however, Suarez will be tasked with taking on the leadership mantle that should have passed to him with Diego Lugano and Diego Forlan's retirement in 2014. Against him is none other than Neymar, another man with a point to prove to local fans after his own explosion at the Copa America.
"Fight, fail, fight again, fail again, fight again... until victory", Mao Tse-Tung taught us. Suarez will never give up his inner ire, but now perhaps he is ready to face the pressure without his rage failing him when it most counts. The past 20 months away from his beloved Celeste have been tough, but thanks to his new club and the man himself, you can be sure the repentant fighter is keen to make up for lost time.
With Godin and Jose Gimenez out in Recife, however, Suarez will be tasked with taking on the leadership mantle that should have passed to him with Diego Lugano and Diego Forlan's retirement in 2014. Against him is none other than Neymar, another man with a point to prove to local fans after his own explosion at the Copa America.
"Fight, fail, fight again, fail again, fight again... until victory", Mao Tse-Tung taught us. Suarez will never give up his inner ire, but now perhaps he is ready to face the pressure without his rage failing him when it most counts. The past 20 months away from his beloved Celeste have been tough, but thanks to his new club and the man himself, you can be sure the repentant fighter is keen to make up for lost time.
By Chris Borg, for CNN
Updated 1038 GMT (1838
HKT) March 25, 2016
Story highlights
·
Uruguay star set to
return to international duty
·
Suarez given nine-game
ban for biting in 2014
·
Suarez says he's
worked to control anxiety
(CNN)He is known as one of football's most controversial figures but
Barcelona striker Luis Suarez has vowed to "do things better" as he
makes his return to international football.
The Uruguay star takes to the pitch for his
country for the first time in 21 months on Friday after his nine-game ban from
international matches for biting Italy defender Giorgio
Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup
expired.
The occasion could hardly be bigger -- Uruguay
travels to Brazil for a South America qualifier for the 2018 World Cup.
But former Liverpool ace Suarez, who is now
part of the world's deadliest club attack along with Lionel Messi and Brazil
captain Neymar, says he has learned from what happened against Italy -- the
third time in his career he had committed a biting offense.
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Speaking to reporters ahead of the Brazil
clash, he said Uruguay -- which he is likely to captain -- would benefit from
"a new Luis."
Since moving to Barcelona, Suarez has been one
of the most in-form footballers in the world. This season, he has scored 37
goals in 38 matches and created a further 15.
He said his astonishing performances for the
Catalan club had been made possible by a new "moderation" in his game
that he would be bringing into his international career.
"I have to be more intelligent in many
ways. I am trying to take advantage of the situations life is putting in front
of me," he explained.
"I have to do things better and enjoy my
return to the national team and the people's kindness.
"No-one is going to change the way I
play. I am going to have the same attitude. I will still run, still pressure,
still argue. However, it will be with moderation and as you have seen me play
for Barcelona recently.
"I have been working over the last few
weeks on trying to control my anxiety, my nerves, which people's euphoria can
cause, but I am very relaxed."
Suarez added that he was "more than happy
to be here again, hanging out with my teammates."
"I know it is special because a lot of
time has passed, but more than anything I feel like a player who is coming to
give the best I can," he said.
The 29-year-old will
return to competitive action for his country in a 2018 World Cup qualifier
against Brazil on Friday, for the first time since receiving a nine-game ban.
BBC Sport looks at his evolution during his absence.
'A dangerous mind that can never be rewired'
Even before the World
Cup in 2014, Suarez was no stranger to controversy - or biting his opponents.
At Ajax, the striker had chewed on PSV's Otman Bakkal. At Liverpool, he
had done the same to
Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic. During his time at Anfield, he also
received an eight-game ban after
being found guilty of racially abusing Patrice Evra, then with Manchester
United.
The Chiellini incident
stoked the fire.
BBC
Sport's story attracted
a record 3.2m readers, while more than 107,000 tweets per minute were sent in
relation to the incident. The UK's newspapers did not hold back in their
condemnation of Suarez's actions. http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/35881126
What
the papers said on Suarez
|
|
Ian
Ladyman, Daily Mail: "Suarez now
has a culinary crime sheet with three items on it. This time, Suarez has
sinned on the greatest stage of them all. Inside this gifted footballer's
head is a brain that simply cannot be rewired."
|
|
Jim
White, Daily Telegraph: "Even the
Uruguay striker's apologists must, surely, now understand that the man needs
help."
|
|
James
Pearce, Liverpool Echo: "The fact is
he's a genius with the ball at his feet but a deeply flawed one. That
insatiable desire to win is both a blessing and a curse."
|
|
The denial, the apology, the Anfield exit
At first, the Uruguay camp went into
lock-down and refused to accept the bite had happened. It was even suggested
the whole event was an English media witch-hunt against the Liverpool striker.
However, Suarez issued a statement four days
later admitting he had bitten Chiellini and "deeply regretted" the
incident. A four-month ban from footballing activity followed.
Three weeks into his suspension, Suarez left
Liverpool, with four years remaining on his contract, and made his £75m move to Barcelona.
Crisis management
When Suarez was presented as a Barcelona
player in August 2014, he revealed that he was seeking help from a psychologist
to prevent him from biting in the future.
Alongside this, Barca president Josep Maria
Bartomeu said he had never had any doubt about signing Suarez, who the club had
targeted for months, after his actions at the World Cup.
"It's a classic way of responding to a
crisis," according to brand expert Alun James, managing director at Four
Communications.
"When someone does something wrong in a
public place, they go through an apology. You need to say 'I've let myself
down', while getting others to put perspective around it. You then demonstrate
action to improve the situation.
"The thing to then do is keep out of
trouble."
More goals, less bite
Suarez completed his
four-month ban and was finally able to make his Barcelona debut in a 3-1 defeat by Real Madrid on 25
October 2014. And soon, the La Liga club's now famous three-pronged attack was
firmly established.
Alongside Argentina's
Lionel Messi and Brazil's Neymar, the trio - nicknamed MSN - led the Catalans
to the treble last season with 122 goals in all competitions.This season, Suarez has
added 43 goals to his own personal tally. And no biting to report.
A new improved Suarez, then?
Perhaps.,
Suarez has addressed his
controversial past in several recent interviews, and has said he wants to be remembered
for his goals, rather than the "bad things".
Speaking before Uruguay's
game with Brazil in Recife, Suarez said: "I am going to have the same
attitude. I will still run, still pressure, still argue but with moderation,
like I am doing now at Barcelona."
But will the general
public be able to forget about his much-publicised past?
"If he's playing
well, they'll make allowances," says forgiveness expert Professor Ann
Macaskill from Sheffield Hallam University.
"This is a really
talented guy, so people can rationalise this behaviour. People are also able to
distinguish the crimes. Biting someone's shoulder is slightly ludicrous,
whereas if someone's involved with a court case, that's more shocking and
harder to forgive.''
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