It’s a dangerous place to be these days, the old football field. Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic is no stranger to most of the game’s darker arts – an elbow here, a studs-up tackle there – the Serbian can throw his weight around with the best of them. Yet even Ivanovic was caught by surprise at Anfield on Sunday when Liverpool striker Luis Suarez used his ample teeth to plant a bite on his arm.
It was hardly the first time Suarez has courted controversy. Heck it wasn’t even the first time he has bitten an opponent – he did the same in his last-ever match for Ajax Amsterdam in 2011. The Uruguayan is a fascinating combination of extremely talented footballer and complete idiot.
When he isn’t scoring or creating magical goals, he’s munching on opponents, (allegedly) spouting racial abuse, handling the ball, or diving around like Greg Louganis.
Liverpool, a hefty fine aside, are standing by their man, and who can blame them? Suarez is pretty much the only player who keeps them from being utterly mediocre. But the Football Association are likely to hand him another hefty ban, keeping him out for at least the rest of the season. As a Chelsea fan, I can only wish that ban had come a fraction earlier, before Suarez showed his more talented side in netting a stoppage time equaliser that dented the Blues’ Champions League ambitions.
Another fellow caught by surprise in this weekend’s football fiesta was Swazi referee Smanga Nhleko, who must have thought his job was over as he left the field following Orlando Pirates’ fabulous Champions League win over TP Mazembe. Instead, Nhleko found himself ducking to avoid a punch aimed at him by a Mazembe official, probably furious at Nhleko’s decision to award the Buccaneers a last-minute penalty.
This official evaded police attention by hiding on the Mazembe bus, but he shouldn’t escape the attention of the Confederation of African Football who, at the very least, ought to not allow him near a football field again.
There have been suggestions Mazembe will be kicked out of the Champions League but I doubt it, and I would also rather see Pirates go through on the field of play.
The Buccaneers were excellent, but they will need all their mental toughness to emerge from Lubumbashi in 10 days’ time with a place in the group stages secured.
Pirateswill not get close to as friendly a welcome as Mazembe got in Orlando on Saturday, when it was hard to tell which side had the most fans. If Pirates emerge with the African dream alive, they will truly have earned it. - The Star