There was a moment during the last Uruguay match against Venezuela this past Thursday, when the frustration in striker Luis Suarez was so big, that he wanted to get inside the field and help his teammates regardless of his injury. But as we know, a hamstring tear is pretty serious, it usually takes between 3 and 5 weeks to completely heal and not expose the player to any danger of a new injury. Suarez yelled at the Uruguay technical staff, he made a scene worthy of an angry teen ager.
But Suarez knew that he couldn't play, that's why the way Suarez reacted took manager Tabarez by surprise. After the match he told the press that there was no need to make a fuzz out of what happened, he explained why Suarez wasn't considered among the subs: "There is no situation. The situation is what I told you [on Wednesday]. The player is not ready to play," the 69-year-old said post-game.
"This is an issue about numbers and doctors. Even if the player is upset, I'm not going to play a player who is not 100 per cent. If he got upset, that is something I was not aware of. He didn't tell me anything. Eighteen days ago he had a substantial tear. We want Suarez when he is healthy. Luis was training with us. Today he had a day off not to force more onto him. Maybe he wanted to move around a little bit. He knows the coach has the final word."
Photo credit: Seleccion Uruguay