When Luis Suarez lashed out in a stupid, stupid way to ruin his country’s chances four years ago in Brazil, Uruguay did not crucify Suarez for a disgusting act.
Fans of Suarez, whose attempts to take a chunk out of Giorgio Chiellini’s shoulder in Natal on June 24, 2014 left him with a nine-match international ban, could not even claim it was out of character. Yet the support for their man was ardent.
Why? Well, it’s a matter of culture, football DNA and Sepp Blatter. Few blamed Suarez for letting down the team, who would go on to lose against Colombia in the last 16 in Brazil, but others even denied the bite, despite damning television evidence.
According to Uruguayan journalist Pablo Benitez,Uruguayans adore their football, just as the English, but they love their players more than the game itself. The culture of football in a country with such a rich World Cup tradition, the most successful soccer nation per capita, is complex.
“At the bottom of everything, for us, we appreciate football as life itself. Football is part of our culture, we live as we play. We understand Suarez’s behaviour because it is the way we play football.
Most of our players come from a poor childhood and football is a way to get social inclusion, to emerge from poverty, to help the family. They grow with that sensation on the field. Just like our culture, the DNA of the Uruguayan player is someone who plays with all his strength until the end.” Benitez said.