Luis Suarez has a message for France forward Antoine Griezmann: Stop pretending to be Uruguayan. Griezmann likes the traditional South American drink mate, he speaks Spanish like someone from Uruguay and he’s been pictured wearing the team’s jersey. The Atletico Madrid player has a special fondness for Uruguay, leading many to believe that it will be heartbreaking for him to face the team in the World Cup quarterfinals on Friday. Suarez is not having any of it though.
“As much as he says he’s half Uruguayan, he’s French,” the Barcelona forward said Tuesday. “He does not really know what the feeling of an Uruguayan is. He does not know about the dedication and effort to be able to succeed in football with so few people. ”
Uruguay’s population is about 3.5 million, while France’s is around 67 million.
“He will have his habits, his way of speaking, but (not) the feeling … we feel differently,” Suarez said.
“I do not know what’s going on in his head, but this is the World Cup. There is another mentality,” said Uruguay’s record scorer, who has 53 goals in 102 appearances. “For us, it’s a special game. I do not know if it is for him.”
Uruguay and France face each other in Nizhny Novgorod in search of a spot in the World Cup semifinals, and Griezmann will try to penetrate an Uruguayan defense led by two of his teammates and close friends at Atletico Madrid, Juan Maria Gimenez, and Diego Godin.