Barcelona striker Luis Suarez could barely control his anger on the sidelines as he watched Uruguay suffer a shock 1-0 defeat to Venezuela, a result, which coupled with Mexico’s 2-0 win over Jamaica meant that La Celeste have exited the Copa America Centenario in the group stages itself, with Suarez throwing his bib, shouting at a coach and punching a wall in frustration.
El Pistolero missed Uruguay’s opening match against Mexico, having picked up a hamstring strain in Barcelona’s Copa del Rey final against Sevilla, but recovered enough to be named on the bench by Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez. When La Celeste went a goal down to Salomon Rondon’s goal against Venezuela, it seemed the perfect opportunity to unleash Suarez to perform his heroics.
However, an administrative error by Uruguay’s technical staff meant that despite Suarez sitting with his teammates on the bench, he was listed as ‘injured’. Strangely, the Uruguayan striker warmed up on the sidelines, expecting to come on, but watched in disbelief as Mathias Corujo was introduced as Uruguay’s third and final substitution with 10 minutes to go.
Predictably, Suarez reacted with anger, having a heated exchange with Uruguay assistant coach Mario Rebollo, before throwing his bib to the ground and punching the plastic wall in anger.
Here is the footage of the incident:
Tabarez would not play Suarez since he was not 100%
Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez, was asked about his decision after the game and stuck to his guns, saying he would not pick a player who was not 100% for the crucial group stage encounter against Venezuela. Tabarez was perhaps well within his rights, given that Uruguay had a striker of the quality of Edinson Cavani on the field.
However, Cavani’s stunning miss in the final moments of the game that would have earned Uruguay a point and kept them in contention to qualify for the knockout stages proved that even an unfit Suarez might have been a better option.
