Watching football damages both your physical and mental health. We’ll get on to that bite very soon, but what happens if you go to bed straight after watching football? Usually I drift off without a care in the world knowing that eight hours later I would get up refreshed and ready to work for my adoring public. Or not.
Last night was different. I had this dream which hinted I was famous. How famous? So famous that Eamon Dunphy turned up on my doorstep and started writing my biography. I woke up in a cold sweat. Hence the danger to my mental health.
Danger to your physical health is far easier to explain. Your team score. You’re holding a very hot cup of tea. Second degree burns guaranteed. The same scenario but now with a can of beer. Thankfully these new aluminium cans are so light weight that the danger of drawing blood is diminished. However squeezing tins with force may well cause repetitive stress injury to your wrist but they will not draw blood.
The very mention of drawing blood brings us to Señor Suarez. I am a Liverpool fan. Yes, some of the goals and some of his team play have blown me away but I am grown up enough to know that the lure of even larger amounts of Euro would see him dribbling across a runway and hopping on a plane. Or that the dangerous trip switch in his head would flick and we’ll be right back into a scandal.
That scandal is here. As soon as I saw Chiellini fall to the ground, I had that Britney Spears feeling.
Oops, he did it again.
What was he thinking of? I wish I knew. It was a match straight out of the 1970s as you could feel the mutual disrespect each team had for each other. Italy had a player sent off even before the bite. Yes, it was a tense game but Uruguay were slowly exerting pressure on Italy. But something snapped in Suarez.
What next?
FIFA will ban him. Whether it is just an international ban or a total ban from playing football has yet to be decided. In reality, this is the third time he has decided to bite an opponent. Three times in five years. We are in trouble here. Yes, he had counselling last year and it may have helped.
I am a Liverpool fan.
Will I see Suarez pull on a red jersey again? Do I want to see him in a red jersey again? Football has given him a life, a lifestyle and a sense of self worth. It also allows Suarez the chance to indulge his dark side. It may be that the time has come for Suarez to be supported in deciding that even though he is an amazing footballer, the time may have come for him to make a very tough decision and walk away now. Allow us remember his positive achievements and not allow him to be exposed to situations that will cause harm to both him and those around him.
It’s time for him to walk away. He will not be walking alone as the club and fans will support him in this life-changing decision.
