Reviews

World Cup Weirdness: How I Heard About The Bite

6/25/2014

Giorgio Chiellini Displays His War Wound

Despite my not-so-closeted fascination with the Azzurri, I was going about a very busy day on Tuesday.

The Italians were playing Uruguay in far-off Brazil. I was with my wife in a modest but wonderful Indian restaurant near Harrisburg, Pa., en route to family, friends and pushing my soccer book.
My cell phone buzzed.
It was Doug From Florida. He is half Latino. Sometimes he honors me with messages in Spanish.
This one said: “Lo siento.” I am sorry.
I wrote, “Que pasó?” What happened?
I’m sure he had figured I was watching.
The words popped up on my phone screen.
“La Mordida de Dios.” The bite of God.
I knew this was a pun on the blatant and unpunished punched goal from Diego Armando Maradona in 1986. The Hand of God, Maradona called it.
Bite? Soccer? Maradona Arrogance? It could only be Luis Suarez. And it was.

So instead of talking about the games, about Michael Bradley’s stumbles, about Landon Donovan's absence, about Klinsmann’s lineup against Germany on Thursday – or even the subsequent departure and eternal ansia of Italy – people were talking about The Bite.

This is some World Cup.

The NYT has asked me to write something about Germany-USA for later today.

We're heading back to NYC for a baseball program at the Museum of the City of New York this evening.

Your opinion about La Mordida de Dios?

Bob Bicknell

6/25/2014 04:10:47 am

I was an All American soccer player at Navy in 1952. I have followed soccer all my life and found your book "Eight World Cups" a wonderful commentary on the sport and its characters. Not the least of whom is Sanchez. Still in the news. I did look for one game in your book which I had the good fortune of attending. The game between Russia and Cameroon. The match in Stanford, California, is worth mentioning since two incredible records in world cup history were made in the same match. The first goal was by Milla of Cameroon. Roger Milla’s record as the oldest man to score in a world cup is unlikely ever to be beaten. To this day Oleg Salenko of Russia remains the only player that has scored five goals in one world cup match. Perhaps, if you ever write an update, you could slip these events in. Best wishes. Bob Bicknell

Josh Rubin

6/25/2014 04:26:39 am

George,

After one brief foray onto your site, I was going to leave the comment fields clear for my dad, but on this topic I have to, um, bite. This morning I was at my local Y and there were a few older guys, most likely retired cops or firefighters, old school Brooklyn and probably Irish. These are baseball/football guys for whom even basketball is probably a bit suspect. But one spotted a red scar on the other's shoulder and asked if he'd been bitten playing soccer, and the two proceeded to joke about Suarez and had actually seen the game. The bite is on the front or back page of every NY daily. I'm sensing not just that interest in the game here is broadening, but that people are starting to understand the drama and enjoy the craziness, and are learning that the absence of scoring isn''t boring, but merely heightens the tension, the same way Jaws isn't boring when the shark's not in the picture. Yes, one shouldn't bite the opposing player any more than one should dive as if one's teeth were horribly fouled by the opponent's shoulder. But the bite has us all talking and paying even closer attention than before. As a nation, we're not just watching out of curiosity; we're on the edges of our seats, and not just for the US games.

Jeff Geller

6/25/2014 04:53:11 am

According to ESPN, FIFA announced that there was a possible violation involving Senor Suarez. That is akin to asking the captain of the Titanic, except for that excessive ice order, how was the trip? The beautiful game has always been feel with the passion. Now it*s talking overbites. Hope Senor Suarez enjoys the rest of the games on Univision.

Brian Savin

6/25/2014 01:45:22 pm

Glad it wasn't a chunk. It was easy to find Holyfield's piece of ear in a boxing ring than it would be a shoulder chunk on a soccer pitch.

Andy Tansey

6/25/2014 02:22:32 pm

Have you seen the Hyundai commercial, about the guy trying desperately to avoid spoilers so he can watch the recorded match? That is I, and it will be tomorrow. If I can make it home without learning the result, it may be a sad commentary about US.

Just the same, I was watching my recording of Sky Blue v. Azzurri but running out of time and fast forwarded unknowingly past any replays that might have shown the sequence with enough clarity to be conclusive. I have yet to see anything conclusive, but then I am always behind and not watching. The photos I saw in the tabloid (offered by a colleague, so pardon) - as opposed to "every NY daily," as which the Times might qualify, indicated that there was contact between Suarez's teeth and Chiellini, but it could have been an unfortunate collision.

A friend told me of a post-weekend warrior visit to the ER on a softball season Sunday. Whatever the friend's injury was did not compare to another pair who came in, a left fielder with a bloody mouth and a shortstop who seemed relatively unscathed. It was a short fly pop to shallow left center and either LF failed to call off SS or SS didn't hear. Asked what heppened to him, LF said he lost two teeth. Asked why he was in the ER, SS doffed his cap to reveal them embedded in his scalp.

RHETORIC(!):
Could yesterday's incident have been an innocent collision?
As half first-generation Italian immigrant descendant, why do I root for virtually anyone against the Azzurri?
Why I am seeking to defend Suarez?

By the way, he should not have been sent off in 2010 for denying an obvious goal by handling against Ghana. A Ghana player was offside before that incident.

People around US are talking. Hopefully (or not), not tomorrow.

Altenir Silva

6/25/2014 02:53:54 pm

Italian food is always tasty and so the cannibal Suárez didn't lose the opportunity.

Gene Palumbo

6/25/2014 07:23:47 pm

George's column in tomorrow's (Thursday's) NYTimes:

"Germany Can Inflict Pain on the U.S., as It Has Before"
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/26/sports/worldcup/germany-can-inflict-much-pain-on-us-as-it-has-before-world-cup-2014.html

George Vecsey

6/26/2014 01:27:38 am

The guy lowered his head and bit a fellow human.
You know what they do with dogs that do that?
They quarantine them.
Jokes aside, awaiting decision.
GV

Mike from Whitestone

6/26/2014 01:04:48 pm

GV, my good friend Mr Lopez of Columbia here in Whitestone knew the story of the bite from '86. He called a one year icing for Senor Suarez. Sad that this takes the stage away from the excitement of the World Cup. And too bad Mr Lopez wasn't right.
The young men from Ghana, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso (who you met) are now following you here.
They have me informed more than every before!!

Go USA

George Vecsey

6/26/2014 01:42:29 pm

Mike, sorry I couldn't get to Queens today. I think it was also the last graduation for a Jamaica High class. Makes me sick.
Tell your guys this is a great World Cup...lots of teams from the Americas...maybe we should watch a match on company time....down the line....GV

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World Cup Weirdness: How I Heard About The Bite

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