Uruguay took the bite out of Italy’s chances to advance in World Cup play.
Italy and England were supposed to move forward to the round of 16 like they always have. Uruguay and Costa Rica winning Group D? No chance in hell.
But that’s why they play the game.
Unfortunately for Uruguay, the win comes at the mercy of controversy surrounding the cannibal Luis Suarez, who found his teeth engraved into another football player for the third time in history. This time, the True Blood star took a bite out of Giorgio Chiellini during the later part of the match and didn’t even get carded for it.
For much of the game, the two teams were holding strong against each other. A few shots from both sides were stopped, but the topic throughout most of the match was more about how dirty they were both playing and how many fouls were committed. Between both squads, they combined for 39 fouls for the entire game. That’s wild.
On the Italian side, Mario Balotelli was carded early. Mattia De Sciglio was hit with a yellow. Claudio Marchisio was given a red in the second half.
And yet, Luis Suarez bites and he got nothing.
Leaving Italy with only 10 men on the field (including Marco Verratti out because of injury), Uruguay came out attacking. For the most part, the Italian defenders held the wall. Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon ended the game with four saves, but it was the one he didn’t stop against Diego Godín that counted the most. At the 81st minute, Gastón Ramírez crossed a corner kick right into Godín, who scored on a header.
The goal sealed the deal for Uruguay as they advance to the round of 16 and left Italy in the dust. Vampire Suarez will play another game (that’s if FIFA doesn’t suspend him beforehand) and will continue as public enemy #1 in the hunger for blood.
It was an unlikely scenario to see both England and Italy out of the running, but it happened. It should be noted that even if Italy would have moved on past Uruguay, Balotelli and Marchisio would have been out due to cards.
Chiellini on Suarez bite after the game:
“It’s a disgrace. The referee who decided this game. If either team should have gone through, then it was us. Giving a red card to Marchisio and no red to Suarez decided the game. There was a different treatment for both sides and that decided the game and decided who went through. When we had 11 men, they weren’t a threat at all and we were in perfect control, but then in the end, [the red card] was decisive. But then Suarez gets away with whatever he wants because FIFA want the top players involved. He bit me, and the sign is there. Now [FIFA] has got to have the courage to take action.“