Hungry Suarez comes back to bite rivals Brazil
LUIS SUAREZ made the kind of return to international football that he will have dreamed about during his 21-month ban by scoring a dramatic second-half equaliser as Uruguay came from two goals down to take a point from Neymar’s Brazil.
Suarez was marched out of the World Cup 640 days ago for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini but returned to Brazil with a bang, losing former Chelsea defender David Luiz in the area before hitting a left-foot shot past goalkeeper Alisson to complete an explosive Uruguayan comeback. He even had the chance to win the game late on but was denied by Alisson’s outstretched right boot.
Brazil had opened the scoring inside the first minute but were left hanging on as Uruguay finished the stronger. Suarez, who was captain for the night, dedicated his goal to the late Uruguay national team physio Walter Ferreira, who helped nurse him back to fitness ahead of the 2014 World Cup.
Suarez said: ‘I was proud to wear the armband and I tried to make it count with a win. The goal is for him [Ferreira]. I said it would be and I know he will have been proud of me again tonight.’
Asked about his miss late on that could so easily have given Uruguay all three points he said: ‘I was tired. I just closed my eyes and hit it but the keeper made the save. The main thing is we were not beaten and we remain on course to qualify [for the 2018 World Cup].’
Neymar was not as happy on the final whistle and had to be pulled away from Uruguay defender Jorge Fucile at the end of the game by peacemaker Suarez.
Things had looked so different after just 43 seconds when Brazil took the lead. Suarez watched them take the kick-off but within a minute he was taking kick-off himself after his first game back got off to the worst possible start.
Willian went down the right, cut back on to his left foot and crossed to the back post, where Bayern Munich winger Douglas Costa arrived to turn the ball past Fernando Muslera.
The noisy Uruguay fans high in the Pernambuco Arena were ere stunned. Their team had d started the qualifiers well with nine points from a possible 12 but, with Brazil’s galaxy of stars orbiting Neymar, they were struggling without their first-choice central defensive partnership Jose e Gimenez and Diego Godin. .
Suarez was starved of service ervice in those early exchanges and Edinson Cavani was being dealt with by Inter Milan defender Miranda. At the other end Neymar was causing all sorts of problems for U Uruguay and, in the 25t 25th minute, he played th the pass of the night to h help make it 2-0.
He threaded the ball 2 20 yards through the h heart of the Uruguayan d defence and past A Alvaro Pereira, finding Re Renato Augusto inside the six-yard box. He swerve swerved to his left taking Muslera with him, then came back to his right to finish into what was now an empty net minus its bamboozled keeper.
Brazil were rampant and their third goal looked more probable than any Uruguayan comeback — but suddenly the visitors gave themselves a lifeline.
Pereira crossed from the left, Carlos Santos headed the ball down at the back post and Cavani, who had been left in space by Luiz, volleyed the ball past Alisson’s right-hand corner.
Suarez then went for goal with an audacious lob from 30 yards that went over as Uruguay finished the half strongly. But Neymar was still dangerous and sent a shot just wide of Muslera’s goal.
Neymar approached Suarez to share a joke with his Barcelona team-mate at the start of the second half as he the Uruguayan prepared to take the kick-off. The Brazilian seemed to enjoy the joke more than Suarez. There was some playful finger-jabbing, but if it was an attempt by Neymar to wind up his Barca pal then it had an adverse effect, as Uruguay levelled with their first attack of the second half.
Suarez scored it, firing Pereira’s pass past Alisson with one swing of his left foot. He raced away to dedicate the goal to Ferreira. Luiz was left to remonstrate with his goalkeeper. Not for the first time in his career the Paris Saint-Germain defender had been close to Suarez but not close enough.
It was Suarez’s 45th goal in 83 games for his country but the top scorer in Uruguay’s history was then booked for catching Fernandinho late. His hands were already raised in innocence as his foot came down but the referee’s card came out. Neymar followed him into the book with a similar foot down on Alvaro Gonzalez that earned him a yellow card.
Both sides were now looking to reduce the other to 10 men, with Miranda clattering into Suarez from behind and Felipe Luis doing his best to provoke the Uruguayan captain.
Brazil had been knocked out of their stride by Uruguay’s comeback and brought on Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho. But then Dani Alves made it three Barca players with a yellow card for a foul on Alvaro Pereira and Suarez was then penalised for a foul on Miranda, as both sides scrapped to get what would have been the winner.
Suarez had the clearest chance, again getting away from Luiz to go clean through. But he went for power and Alisson saved. Having raced to that early lead Brazil were hanging on at the end with Luiz’s legs gone but Uruguay unable to land the knockout blow.
It still felt like a victory, especially for Suarez, whose near two-year spell in the wilderness had ended with a point-salvaging goal.