WC 2014: For Uruguay, Luis Suarez is Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar rolled into one

During his post-match interview after the game against England, Luiz Suarez broke down in tears. “I dreamt this, I dreamt this…” he just managed to say. Then, after a pause, he added, “I’m enjoying this moment, because of all I suffered, the criticism I received. So, there you go.” One can imagine that his comments didn’t bring him much love in England, where he plays his club football for Liverpool. But he probably didn’t care. One month back, Suarez was in a wheelchair after undergoing knee surgery. Now, he had miraculously staged a recovery, taken the field, netted two goals and a famous victory for his country. In this moment, for Uruguay – a country with a population of just 3.5 million – Suarez is Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar all rolled into one. He is their world beater; he is their genius; he is their saviour. England, Liverpool can all wait – this is bigger, much bigger. [caption id=“attachment_1579753” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Uruguay’s Luis Suarez was superb against England. AP[/caption] During Uruguay’s first game of the current campaign against Costa Rica, Suarez sat on the bench knowing that he wasn’t going to play and watched his team lose 1-3. It was a bit of a shock. This was a game that they would have hoped to win given that the other sides in their group were Italy and England. So come the game against England – Suarez simply willed himself on to the field. He came into the pre-match conference talking about how he was 100 percent fit and almost immediately the conversation shifted gears – it was all about Suarez. His season in England had done two things – it allowed him to net an astounding 31 goals in 33 league matches – thereby proving that the English defenders don’t really have a handle on him and it had given the opposition a fair understanding of just how dangerous he is. With that understanding – came the most important weapon in Suarez’s armoury: fear. All great strikers inspire fear because of their scoring instinct – put them in front of goal and they’ll score. Against England, Uruguay managed two shots on target and scored with both. That is lethal finishing. But even among great strikers, Suarez is different. He stands out – not just because he is a great finisher but also because of his movement, his quick-thinking and his indomitable will. In the game against England, Uruguay’s first corner – Joe Hart was, for some reason, standing at the edge of the six yard box. Suarez spotted the England keeper was off the line and tried to curl it in at the near post. It almost worked. When he saw that Hart didn’t learn from that experience, he tried it again and once again, almost succeeded. It was the unpredictable touch that Uruguay solely lacked in the first game. It was also the kind of thing that only players will tremendous confidence will try. Suarez had 47 touches during the game – more than everyone else in the Uruguayan team except full backs Alvaro Pereira (62) and Martin Caceres (61). It showed how he wasn’t just playing as striker, he was creator too. He was moving all over the pitch and his passing was always about trying to find the right angles. When you come into a match with just a few training sessions behind you, nervousness cannot be far behind. But Suarez just willed himself into doing all the right things. The opportunity to score the second goal for instance came because of messed up clearance header by Gerrard. The 27-year-old was on the ball in an instant and drove towards the goal but even as he set himself up to take the shot at full tilt, he lost his balance just before pulling the trigger. Somehow, he righted himself, kept his balance and poise, to smash the ball into the net. Perhaps, all of it comes down to how much he hates losing. In the June issue of Sports Illustrated, he spoke about it: “It defines me in the sense that I will fight for every ball, want to win every game and get upset when I lose because it gives you a garra, a bad sensation, simply because you hate to lose. Not only for me, but I think for a lot of Uruguayans.” And that is what really got his back on the pitch – that is also what saw him use him hand to stop a ball on the goal-line in a game against Ghana during the last World Cup. It earned him a lot of grief from the world, but in Uruguay it was seen as the act of a man who put the team above self. He did the very same against England too. Of course, it helped that he wanted to make a few points of his own. “Before the game too many people in England laughed about my attitude over the last few years. This is a very good time for me. I want to see what they think now.” Over the years, we’ve seen that an angry Suarez isn’t a good one but at this was him just rubbing it in. Uruguay, though, still aren’t out of the woods – they run into Pirlo’s Italy next and that won’t be easy. But as long as they have Suarez – they will know nothing is impossible. He gives them the gift of genius.