Football
ESPN staff 6y

Luis Suarez feared Barca move would fall through after Chiellini bite

Luis Suarez feared his 2014 transfer to Barcelona would fall through after he bit Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup in Brazil that summer.

The Uruguay international was banned for nine international matches -- and from all football activity for four months -- after being found guilty of biting Chiellini during their group-stage game in Natal, Brazil, a punishment Chiellini himself called excessive.

Shortly after the incident, however, Suarez moved from Liverpool to Barcelona for around €80 million, and he said on a video published by the Players' Tribune on Monday that he worried the deal would never happen.

"Yes, yes," Suarez said when asked if he thought the transfer would no longer go through.

"Because it was everything -- in addition to thinking about the World Cup, and being able to fulfill my dream to come here to Barca -- everything had gone overboard for me.

"And I think in the few days after that -- before they kicked me out of the World Cup -- that's when I spoke with Zubi [Andoni Zubizarreta], and the president, and they told me to be calm because Barca still wanted me. I have no problem saying it, I cried.

"Because they were accepting, and me going through what I did in that moment, and with the s--- I had caused, it was complicated to trust in me.

"Truth is, Barca has been so good to me, and I will always be very grateful for that."

Suarez described his thoughts and impressions in the immediate aftermath of the bite, saying he knew it would cause a stir.

"After I did it, I realised immediately," Suarez said. "We scored our goal a few minutes after, I think it's about 10 minutes after when [Diego] Godin scores, and I don't celebrate it as much as I usually would -- the way everyone else celebrated it -- because I was already thinking about the aftermath.

"I enter the locker room and the first thing I do was to speak with my wife, who was there with the kids and all. And she asks me, asked me what I had done.

"And obviously, I always, initially I didn't want to accept reality -- negating, crying, and all -- and, well, after it all, some feelings in the locker room were of happiness, but also everyone checking their phones and all for what was to come."

Suarez was famously sent off for a deliberate handball to stop a goal-scoring opportunity in the 2010 World Cup quarterfinals against Ghana. Ghana star Asamoah Gyan clanged the resulting penalty off the bar with the last action extra-time. Uruguay went on to win the match on penalties to qualify for the last four of the tournament, but faced the Netherlands in the next round without Suarez, who was suspended for the infraction.

Suarez said it was a strange feeling to have helped the team but sacrificed his chance to help his country reach a World Cup final.

He said: "Yes, the truth is, it was a bit of everything -- of being depressed, of being sad, of being sent off. Because we were going to lose, but if they weren't scoring that goal we weren't going to lose, and ... well, you get up within 30 seconds when he takes the penalty kick, the satisfaction of ... of ... well, I took a risk in a situation of which I have been blamed for anti-fair play. However, the Ghana player missing the penalty is not my fault."

Suarez was shown by television cameras celebrating in the tunnel to the dressing room after Gyan missed his spot kick.

He added: "I didn't kick anyone or anything like that, that's why I think that I celebrated like that, for having taken a risk for something that was worth it.

"And I remember that I celebrated it more than a goal. A teammate on the bench passed out on that play, hahaha."

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