Luis Suarez 'Strikes' Again...

 Luis Suarez has found himself in more controversy after striking an Chilean opponent in the face in a world cup qualifier whilst on international duty with Uruguay. From the video he is clearly being held and his marker is saying something to him. Suarez reacts by putting his fist into the guy's face. It's not a full on punch and was never really going to hurt the defender but it's another incident for the press and the Suarez haters to get their teeth into. 

 It's quite clear he hits his man, but it's also clear he's being provoked. He's not trying to knock the guy out, he's just annoyed with the close attention. It should be a sending off in today's climate, no argument about that but it's not a dangerous action that was ever going to hurt anyone and it's certainly not the worst thing ever seen on a football pitch.

 It's easy to defend him with the whole 'he's a bastard, but he's our bastard' thing but on this occasion I don't think he needs much defending. He's in the wrong and anybody who says he's not is a bit too blinkered, but he's hardly committed GBH on anyone, and he's obviously reacting to how the other guy behaves. My concern here is that other players will see how he reacts to provocation and he will become even more of a target than he is already. He has plenty of yellow cards this season and I'd be willing to bet the majority of those are in the closing stages of games we've lost, he doesn't like it when things aren't going his way and that's when he tends to lose it a little.

 A few days earlier Suarez had scored this goal against Paraguay, showing excellent technique in his brilliant volleyed finish. People who claim they hate Suarez also claim they are football fans. His superb goal got just over 60,000 views on youtube, his 'punch' is close to a million views spread across several different posting of the same incident. I think this shows pretty clearly what people's interests are....