Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai)

Suarez promises Barcelona fans he won’t bite again

- The Guardian & Agencies

BARCELONA: Luis Suárez promised Barcelona fans he will never bite another player again and revealed he has sought profession­al help to prevent it happening for a fourth time.

The Uruguay striker spoke publicly for the first time on Tuesday since the incident with the Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup on 24 June — following previous bites on Branislav Ivanovic and PSV Eindhoven’s Otman Bakkal. Although he repeatedly said he does not want to look back and described the question of therapy as a “private issue,” asked if he had done anything to guarantee it does not happen again, he said: “I have dealt with the appropriat­e profession­als.”

The striker, who did not dwell on his time in the Premier League, described this as a “distant dream”. If few fear that the Uruguayan will not play well, there may be worries of a repeat offence but Suárez said his contract does not contain any specific clauses about his behaviour, saying it was “the same” as any other player’s deal. He insisted: “I say to all the fans: ‘Don’t worry, I won’t do that again.’ ”.

He made his first appearance for the Catalans as substitute in the last 15 minutes in a friendly against Mexican side Leon. Neymar scored twice in his comeback after the injury he suffered in World Cup. Result: Barcelona 6 (Messi 3; Neymar 12, 44; El Haddadi 55, 78; Ramirez 90) Leon 0

DUNGA RINGS CHANGES IN FIRST BRAZIL SQUAD RIO DE JANEIRO: New Brazil coach Dunga announced the first squad of his second spell in charge of the Selecao on Tuesday, with only 10 of those who featured at the World Cup making the cut. He named a squad of 22 players for the friendlies against Colombia in Miami on September 5 and Ecuador in New Jersey four days later. Neymar, who suffered a fractured vertebrae in the World Cup, is in the squad. Only six of those who started the 7-1 maul ing against Germany, David Luiz Fernandinh­o, Hulk, Oscar, Luiz Gustavo and Maicon, feature.

PEKERMAN REMAINS IN CHARGE OF COLOMBIA BOGOTA: Coach Jose Pekerman who steered Colombia to the World Cup quarterfin­als last month, will stay on for the 2018 qualifiers and the next two Copa America tournament­s the Colombian federation (FCF) said on Tuesday. The 64-year-old Argentine led an impressive Colombia side, which included the tournament’s top scorer James Rodriguez, to their first finals for 16 years in Brazil where they were eliminated by the hosts in the last eight.

SCHWEINSTE­IGER OUT FOR ‘SEVERAL WEEKS’ BERLIN: Bayern Munich chair man Karl-heinz Rummenigge said on Tuesday that German World Cup-winning midfielder Bastian Schweinste­iger will be out for ‘several weeks’ with a knee problem. “It won’t only be a case of one or two weeks but rather a bit longer,” said Rummenigge, adding that “sev eral weeks of patience” would be required.

 ?? AFP PHOTO ?? Luis Suarez made his first Barcelona appearance as a substitute in 6-0 win over Leon in a friendly at the Camp Nou on Monday.
AFP PHOTO Luis Suarez made his first Barcelona appearance as a substitute in 6-0 win over Leon in a friendly at the Camp Nou on Monday.

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