As a Barcelona fan, I’m glad that Kaka plays for Real Madrid.
Dirk Kuyt may be tireless and work hard, but when he had the breakaway towards the end, he sure looked slow.
Luis Fabiano got away with one, but appeared to disguise his attempted neutering of Mark van Bommel well. Given how quickly Van Bommel seemed to recover, it doesn’t appear that he actually made contact. That’s the sort of pain that lingers . . .
I believe Nigel de Jong’s takedown of Kaka in the box should have been a penalty. I’ve seen them given for much less.
Arjen Robben is a gifted player and had a good game, but he flopped frequently and did his and the sports’ image no favors by so doing.
On the other hand, the Brazilians were foolish to take the bait. They let him get into their heads and it affected their performance.
<s>Yes, it was an own goal, but just barely.</s>
Dunga is catching most, if not all of the heat for this. Today’s loss was only the sixth loss in nearly four years. It was not him who didn’t communicate with his goalkeeper leading to an own goal, nor was it him who decided to stomp on Arjen Robben and get sent off. Just sayin’ . . .
I believe that Uruguay will miss Luis Suarez a lot more than the Netherlands will miss Nigel de Jong and Gregory Van Der Wiel. Will Khalid (the Cannibal) Boulahrouz start in Van der Wiel’s place?
Luis Suarez will sleep well tonight and he shouldn’t. The best bit of acting today was by Suarez with his “Who me?!?!” expression when the referee showed him the red card for thinking he was playing volleyball at the end of extra time. I believe that this was probably the most flagrantly deliberate handball I ve ever seen.
I agree and disagree with Dave Brockington here: yes, Suarez did cheat and he got caught (he wouldn’t have been sent off otherwise) and yes they should change the rule under those circumstances, the referee should be allowed to consider that a goal. I think that they should go even further: allow the goal, send the man off and give the attacking team a penalty kick. This is the type of behavior that FIFA should want to discourage.
Every time we see someone taking a penalty kick, Mercia always says “Poor goalkeeper!” I always say the pressure is not on the goalkeeper, but on the player(s) taking the penalty(ies). Today’s events have confirmed that for me yet again and I believe that there is absolutely nothing that can persuade me otherwise.
Send some good thoughts Asamoah Gyan’s way. He probably feels absolutely wretched.
I know this is probably cold comfort, but Sulley Muntari’s goal IMHO was the tournament best so far.
Diego Maradona, kindly shut the fuck up:Villa was not offside and your team benefited from a bad call as well.
Anton Sirius
Totally agree. A deliberate hand ball on the goal line should, at the very least, be an awarded goal plus a red card.
The Main Gauche of Mild Reason
Don’t hate the player, hate the game…
Knowing that things would work out that way within the rules, I find it difficult for him to justify not doing it. Yeah, the rule should be changed, but some of the vitriol targeted against Suarez is just ridiculous. If it’s allowed, people will take advantage of it.
tgp
I dont know about the second penalty. If you give the goal and send the man off your setting the scales of justice equal in my opinion. For Suarez why not do that? His team was going home. It was a certain goal. He saved his team. The problem their is the rule that rewards that behavior by allowing the possibility that the goal wont happen with the missed pk.
superfly
Ian Darke said it best, that is the cruelest exit from the Cup I’ve ever seen, just brutal. I just feel awful for Gyan, Ghana and Africa.
Can’t believe how Brazil fell apart, just from giving up a goal, it was like they were offended they were scored upon, and then they spiraled down from there, but I’m going to take credit for the win, since I was wearing my ’98 Netherlands “Bergkamp 8” jersey, it was all me.
JL
I’m a baseball and NFL guy, and haven’t a clue.
Indulge me as I stir the pot.
In your humble (ha-ha) opinions, what 2 teams will square off in the championship? And what country will win?
The Dangerman
@JL:
If the Netherlands, is there enough pot in Amsterdam for the party that will follow? Will an emergency air drop be necessary?
ChrisB
No, it was the sixth loss in only four years.
MattR
I don’t think that what Suarez did was cheating in any way. In fact, right now it was the most brilliant play of the tournament. Despite the fact that Suarez will probably not play again in the World Cup, Uruguay will go on.
BTW, does anyone know if FIFA can give a conditional penalty like that? Or could they wait until after the semifinal to decide on further punishment and then give him an extra game ban if Uruguay makes the finals?
Calouste
@superfly:
Yes, it looked like Brazil were shocked that a team had the audacity to equalize against them, instead of just handing them the result they needed on a silver platter. I wasn’t too surprised that Brazil went downhill from there. They gave away a goal against Ivory Coast in the group through arrogance and sloppiness, and I expected them to do it against Holland as well. The entitlement of Brazil was also shown in the reactions to fouls awarded against them, specially by Robinho and Dunga.
I also wasn’t surprised that someone got send off, that looked a distinct possibility after the first five minutes. Kudos to the ref for preventing the game from becoming a repeat of the Battle of Nuremberg.
The Dutch conceded after the match that the fouling and diving was a game plan, and basically meant to beat the Brazilians at their own game.
Both attacks were bad at finishing things of. Brazil in the first half and Holland after they went 2-1 up. 4-1 either way could have been possible.
Calouste
@MattR:
FIFA can’t give conditional penalties, but they could just slap a multi match ban on him. A direct red card means the player is immediately banned for the next match, but the foul that led to the card will be reviewed by a panel and they can extend the ban.
Paula
I feel sorry for Ghanaian spectators, and everyone who wanted a home team win this on their home continent, but … methinks this is also partly due to a colossal loss of composure on the part of Gyan and the 2 penalty kickers.
Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle
Diego Maradona, kindly shut the fuck up:Villa was not offside and your team benefited from a bad call as well.
Don’t you see? Maradona is playing mind games. He’s doing his best to take the pressure off the team. How much have you heard about Messi not scoring a goal yet? Not much. We’ll see if Maradona’s tactics are successful
MattR
@Calouste: Gotcha. Personally, I think the fairest penalty would be to keep him out of the rest of this World Cup but nothing beyond. Granted, if they gave him a ban of one extra game and Uruguay did not reach the finals so Suarez would still have to miss one international match, that would not be that big a deal.
Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle
@superfly: What, no Marco van Basten? And did you see Ruud Gullit on the post-game? He was giddy like a 12 year old girl is giddy over Justin Bieber.
wengler
@MattR
FIFA will make a suspension decision regardless as to whether Uruguay makes it to the final or not. I really can’t see Suarez getting less than 2 games. His World Cup is over.
@Randinho
Good rundown. And now we know what the US should’ve done in the Confederations’ Cup last year to beat Brazil. Instead of going 2-0 up the US should’ve given up one of their patented “let’s start the wrong way” specialties followed by 35 minutes of inaction only to come storming back after the half.
Brazil let the shortest guy on the field head in the game winner. It was stunning play the second half. It had to have been the blue uniforms. There is no other explanation.
Whammer
I think it was on another thread here, that the handball was analogous to a DB getting beat and deliberately tackling a receiver about to catch a touchdown pass. They don’t award a touchdown in that situation; so sometimes the offense can’t score from the 1-yard line.
Seems pretty similar. If you look at the replay, not only did Suarez bat the ball with his hands, but the guy right next to him tried to do the exact same thing.
Might make sense to allow the referee to concede a goal in that situation — similar to goaltending in basketball.
burnspbesq
It takes a lot to get me to root for Germany after what happened to the US in 2002.
I will sing Deutschland uber Alles all day tomorrow if they win.
Maradona really is a loathsome little toad.
mcd410x
That’s just no way to lose. Or win.
Calouste
@MattR:
There is a 3rd/4th place play off, so a 2 match ban won’t extend beyond the World Cup. I think he should get a 2 match ban and not get a medal if his team wins any.
Of course, we’re all somewhat influenced by the eventual result. If that penalty was scored, there wouldn’t have been that much of a discussion.
Morzer
Strange absence of comment on Felipe Melo’s appalling behavior – it deserved more than a red card. Hopefully FIFA will consider some longer suspension. You just don’t stamp on another player like that. Brazil got what they deserved – and it’s a relief that this overrated side didn’t go any further in the World Cup.
I sincerely hope that Uruguay get annihilated in their next game. Suarez spent a lot of time diving, pouting and variously cheating before the despicable handball. And yes, it is cheating to do what he did. Only Forlan should emerge with any credit from what was an embarrassing performance by Uruguay.
My bet – the winner of Germany v Argentina will win the world cup. Spain look sterile, Holland were terrible for most of the first half against a mediocre Brazilian side, and Uruguay have neither the talent, nor discipline to win the big prize.
Anya
@burnspbesq: I am with you on Argentina. I cannot stand that smug asshole.
In another note, are soccer players the hottest or what?
Jeff Stone
In rugby the referee can award a penalty try when the defense cynically commits an infraction that prevents an almost certain score. I think that would have been the fair call here, although I understand the referee had no power to make that call. I think a small problem with the pass interference analogy is that we’ll never know if the receiver would have actually caught the ball or not, while we definitely know that Ghana was going to score.
MattR
@Calouste: I always forget about the 3rd place game. It is so unAmerican ;) Though the math geek in me loves the fact that it makes the tournament 64 games.
I guess we are at odds over Suarez. I think if Uruguay wins a medal, he should get two. (Though I did dislike his play the rest of the match, as Morzer pointed out)
JL
Maradona!
(Cue Schwarzenegger cradling a murdered partner [close up] Action!: “Damn your eyes, Mare-ee-do-nyaa”!).
I never even heard of the guy until the last couple of weeks.
Maradona aside, what team will be the last one left standing?
By this point in the NFL playoffs, I wouldn’t hesitate to name the eventual champ. Of course, I’d be full of sheep dip.
But I’d do it anyway, just like every year.
So soccer fans– who will win it all?
MattR
@JL: Might as well stick with what I said after the group stage. Netherlands over Argentina in the fnials.
@Morzer:
And Paraguay doesn’t even get a shout out :)
handsmile
@ Paula
While concurring with your assessment that a “colossal loss of composure” may have contributed to Ghana’s defeat, I have to imagine that carrying the incalculable weight of expectations of the African continent for 120 fiercely contested minutes might have played a role in that breakdown.
Also, Richard Kingson’s shortcomings as goalkeeper were tragically revealed at the conclusion of what had been a career-surpassing tournament for him. On two of the four Uruguayan penalty kicks, his efforts were dreadful.
This cruelly efficient method of concluding a match always brings back to mind a novella by the Austrian writer Peter Handke, “The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick.” I read it many years ago and I recall it had almost nothing to do with football, but the title got lodged in memory….
Anya
I think it will be Germany and the Netherlands and then Germany will win.
Paula
@handsmile:
Well, I may tough on Gyan et al, but you are too harsh on Kingson. He saved their butts for that first half when they seemed to be flailing.
Yes, pressure — every team in the WC has got some form of it, and part of the price you pay for home-field advantage is that extra pressure to perform that other teams don’t. But it’s been done by other teams, and the Ghanaian players knew what they needed to do.
But loss of composure when the game winning goal is practically gifted to you on a platter — TWICE — is exasperating. This loss is so cruel and ugly and unnecessary that I can’t even derive schadenfreude from it.
MattR
@Paula: I think the fact this was there second straight extra time game for Ghana should not be discounted.
And for a piece of trivia, according to ESPN “Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan became the first player to ever miss two penalties in his World Cup career.”
Pooh
Why exactly should Suarez not sleep well tonight?
I’ve read lots of websites and listened to several podcasts and there is huge dischotomy between those who are calling Suarez unethical at best and those like me who feel like they wouldn’t want to play with anyone who WOULDN’T do what he did in that situation.
Dr. Squid
I don’t know about goal + PK, but if a player is sent off, security should feel free to beat the snot out of said player should he try to return to the field for even the celebration. Then you wouldn’t have the douchey Uruguay post-match display.
Pooh
@Dr. Squid: Now they aren’t allowed to celebrate?
Dr. Squid
They’re allowed to celebrate. Just not by carrying their red-carded player in front of the whole damn stadium. Celebrate in the locker room, Bubbles.
MattR
@Pooh: I think it is a bit over the top, but someone in the comments of the LGM post that Randinho linked to made a comparison between throwing a game and choosing not use your hands at that moment.
Morzer
@Pooh:
Because he’s a repulsive little cheat who spent the game diving and then used his hands to deny the better team a goal they deserved?
Violet
@wengler:
It’s the white on the uniforms. Teams wearing white are doing poorly this World Cup. Brazil lost when they wore the uniforms with the white shorts.
I hope Suarez has bodyguards tonight. He might need them.
What Suarez did wasn’t right, but the rules are the rules. I agree that awarding the goal AND giving a red card would discourage such behavior in the future.
Can’t believe Brazil melted down like they did. It did seem like they were affronted that anyone dare score against them. They completely lost their cool. And the foot stomp by Melo? Disaster. Talk about a losing the mental game.
Loved both games today. Really great day of football. I can totally see why people get into this sport. Can’t tear myself away from it.
JenJen
Oh, Randinho, this is probably my favorite WC post of yours yet. It’s a terrific rant, and I love to see the passion really coming out as we get to the business end of the tournament.
Was driving during the Ghana-Uruguay extra-time period, but listened on sat radio through to the PK’s, and thought I had a good picture of what happened. After getting home late tonight, though, and seeing the replays, I’m so blown away by that crazy match, and especially Suarez at the end of extra-time. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything so whacky during a World Cup. It wasn’t a pretty way to end a terrific match, and I’m still really feeling for Ghana, and rather irritated with Suarez, a player I admire, but that’s how it goes. You said it far better than I could.
As an aside, watched the recorded FSC “Ticket to South Africa” a short while ago, and the URU-GHA match was still going on; it was hilarious to watch the anchors looking off-camera to the TVs. They were incredibly distracted with the gameplay and didn’t particularly care about wrapping up the quarters at that moment, live. Just made me love the sport all the more.
Watching Argentina-Germany in just a few hours at the pub with like-minded Germany-loving soccer friends. Maybe I should just get to sleep now. What a day in WC! You just have to love it, you know?
Ash Can
@Anya: OK, that link was just a treat. Just what my early-morning insomnia needed. Now when I go back to bed for a two-hour snooze I’ll have lovely dreams. :)
Simon
In my opinion the rules are not something absolute that divide cheaters from honest players — they are things you don’t do, that have penalties if you’re caught. What Suarez did had a penalty, his team ate the penalty — he chose a 90+% chance of losing over a certain loss, and won.
How easy is it to distinguish a deliberate handball from an non-deliberate handball? Suppose it was a powerful kick smashing into his side on the goal line? At the end of the game? Will every World Cup ref see that clearly and not award a penalty? The current rule gives a huge reward to the victimized team, while acknowledging that there could be ambiguity in the situation. Remember Australia and Italy some years back?
For those who compare it to goal-tending, a goal-tend is awarded two or three points, out of a total of 96 or so over the game.
Suarez broke the rule and the punishment is one that Ghana has to seize, and that teams will seize about 90% of the time — but Ghana didn’t.
stormhit
The referee absolutely should not hand out goals for things that theoretically may have happened, but did not actually happen. That is not sport.
frankdawg
I never felt a red card was the right response for a hand ball in the box. The other team should be awarded a goal if there is a flagrant foul, or a hand ball that stops a goal. tossing the guy does not really penalize the team as much & a goal +PK is excessive since the violator only stopped one goal.
I admit I was pulling for Holland but I’d say the same if the situation were reversed.
Blue Neponset
Suarez is a hero. Every player who participated in the WC would have done the same thing.
Defensive players take away sure thing goals all the time. Referees usually don’t call fouls in the box unless there is a clear goal scoring opportunity. If Suarez had taken out Gyan before he could get a shot at an open net no one would be saying boo. A handball to keep the ball from crossing the line is no different.
Also, I used to think I was universally outraged by the diving but I just don’t notice it as much when a team I am rooting for does it. Hooray for cognitive dissonance!
SLKRR
@Violet:
I don’t think it was that they were affronted that anyone would score… I think it was more frustration with not being able to finalize their chances. They played really strongly the first half and should have gone in 2-0 or more. When they came out and immediately let Holland tie the game, that frustration really came out and they got sloppy (not to mention letting Holland get into their heads with all the diving). I agree it was a mental game, and they blew it. The same thing happened when the Ivory Coast game devolved into gorilla ball, but they were up 3 so they didn’t have the frustration angle to deal with.
Jeff Stone
Referees in basketball award points for goal-tending with no regard for whether or not the shot was going in. As I mentioned before, rugby allows for penalty tries when a score is inevitable and the defense cynically commits a try stopping penalty. These both seem like legitimate answers to what rules-makers consider cheating, and in last night’s case, I think a goal awarded would be have been difficult to disagree with if the rules allowed for it.
Jeff Stone
@Blue Neponset:
Of course stopping a ball from crossing the line with your hands is different from taking out a shooter before he shoots.
Blue Neponset
@Jeff Stone: The point is, they both prevent a goal from being scored. Why is tacking someone in front of an empty net not on the same level as using your hands to prevent a goal?
Bootlegger
I replayed a lot of those fouls against Holland that some of you are calling “diving” and there is clearly some contact. Yes, the dutch players “embellished” the contact, but Brazil is known for its physical play and it looked like the Dutch players decided to try and take that away from them. Once it actually worked against Robben when he was actually fouled, pretended to be at the scene of an IED, but didn’t get the call. The tactic wasn’t pretty, but effective. Ditto on Suarez’s creative goal line play.
Bootlegger
@Jeff Stone: In basketball no one is allowed above the cylinder, with any part of the body, period. It’s an easy call to make. On Suarez’s play he was in a perfectly legal position. A better comparison to basketball, IMO, is grabbing a player on his way up for an easy layup.
Frank
@frankdawg:
If teams would start getting automatic goals for flagrant fouls, I have a feeling we will see a lot more diving and what have you. Why not? Instead of just a free kick, you would now get an entire goal as reward. And even if the referee called you on it and gave you a yellow card, it is still not a big prize to pay for a potential free goal.
Jeff Stone
@Blue Neponset: The difference is that the shot that Suarez stopped was certainly going in the net, while we can’t assume that a shooter in front of an empty net is definitely going to score if he never gets his foot to the ball. I am guessing that this is why the NFL only awards first-and-goal on the one for pass interference in the end zone. We can’t be sure that the receiver would have caught it. In last night’s case, the ball was definitely going in.
Jeff Stone
@Bootlegger: Goal-tending is called when the player makes contact with a shot that is on a downward trajectory, regardless of where it is on the floor. I wasn’t talking about someone sitting under the basket and swatting away balls as they’re about to go through the hoop. However the basketball analogy is probably not the best one to make. I know rugby is pretty obscure to most, but the referee is given the power to award a score that would have been if he feels the defense committed a penalty for the sole purpose of stopping the score. My main point is that a red card and penalty kick is not an even exchange for a certain goal.
Stroszek
Suarez’s handball is despicable, but you have to love the drama of it. I look forward to seeing Netherlands crush them on Tuesday.
zzyzx
Again, I wouldn’t worry too much about this being a precedent because this can only happen when:
(1) A tie game is about to end
(2) A team is about to score
(3) The goalie is nowhere near the shot
(4) A non-goalie is on the goal line
and
(5) Only a hand ball would keep the ball out
In any other situation it would be better to let the goalie try to handle it (to not risk the PK) or a red card would not be worth turning a goal into 80% of a goal.
handsmile
There is much in the above thread that I wish I could respond to, but having awoken after four hours of sleep, I now have to run out to watch “Clash of the Titans” (no, not the one with Harry Hamlin) this morning.
@ Blue Neponset: Your remark re “cognitive dissonance” was hilarious. Indignant outrage and charitable forgiveness as determined by one’s team preference as always seemed to me the sine qua non of sports fandom.
@ Paula: We may have to respectfully disagree on this matter. While you are certainly correct to assert that all World Cup teams experience pressure to perform to or even surpass expectations, and the host nations even more so, I maintain that there was a paramount historical dimension to Ghana’s quarter-final match.
As for Richard Kingson, let me emphasize that prior to the penalty kicks, his consistently stellar performances in goal were the primary reason for Ghana’s success. I would never have imagined that Wigan’s third-string keeper would emerge in the World Cup as his nation’s most valuable player.
Re Clash of the Titans: Is Diego Maradona the Kraken? He must be among the most polarizing figures who walks the planet.
While I’ve been neutral on the issue heretofore, his remarks yesterday about Argentina’s assured place in the final match: [t]his time we will not need the hand of God, because it is the will of God,” certainly makes me more sympathetic towards those who loathe him.
But the “Maradona as lightning rod” theory has a distinct plausibility. Acting as a rascal, a clown, a provocateur, Maradona shields his players from the media’s voracious scrutiny and scandal-mongering. England’s Capello might profit from studying such a strategy.
This canny guardianship enables the squad to focus on football preparations, reinforcing team cohesion, and fostering team loyalty in defense of their coach’s latest provocation. As someone who has literally grown up as the subject of the media’s hosannas and damnation, Maradona, Argentina’s football deity, must understand the industry’s operations and ethos far better than all but few others.
burnspbesq
@Paula:
And don’t forget, Kingson made at least four big saves against the US.
ColeDBiers
The comparison to basketball is ridiculous.
A goal in soccer is a rarity. Often just one or two in a game.
There are often a hundred or more scores in a basketball game.
Suarez was penalized correctly. The same as if he had tackled an opponent with an empty net to shoot at.
Granted, it being the very last second of the game removed the prospect of Uruguay being forced to play a man down. At that point, the only way to penalize the Uruguayans would be to give them one less PK than Ghana. But thats not in the rules.
Blue Neponset
@Jeff Stone: It definitely would have been a goal, but such cases are rare. I don’t think giving the ref the power to act on what would have happened is a good idea. A PK and a red card are big advantages. The problem with yesterday was that the non-goal happened on literally the last play of the match. That too is rare. Just as bad cases make bad law, changing the rules for such a rare occurrence is a bad idea.
Doctor Gonzo
As a former soccer ref, I disagree vehemently with awarding the goal. You do not know what would have happened without the hand ball. It could have hit him elsewhere. It could have hit somebody else. It could have hit the crossbar. Once you start awarding goals because they might have gone in barring the foul, the game becomes a farce. We don’t need even more subjectivity.
Leave it be. A red card and a penalty kick are more than enough sanction.
Turgid Jacobian
Let’s not start proliferating “cases.” 17 laws would quickly become 170.
frankdawg
@Frank:
Thats a good point I had not thought of, thanks. I’m new enough yet that all the theatrics have not seeped into my brain. I only thought of flagrant but thats a judgment call to. I append my remarks :)
In hockey if anyone but the goalie grabs the puck in the crease it is an automatic goal. A hand ball in an open net should be the same thing.
@Bootlegger:
I don’t have the whole game but the bits of replay I saw Holland didn’t look that bad. That may be fan goggles or my newbie status but most of what I saw looked ok.
Randinho
@tgp: You really want to discourage that sort of behavior. I believe that would do it.
@ChrisB: Dunga wasn’t coach for four years. It was after midnight on a long day when I wrote that. Don’t be a pedant :-)
@MattR: Of course it was cheating. if he didn’t cheat, he wouldn’t have gotten punished.
@burnspbesq: Amen.
@handsmile: Handke’s novel was made into a great film by Wim Wenders.
Dr. Squid
For us English speakers who wouldn’t mind seeing Uruguay get trampled, Go Oranje might do. The proper phrase, however, is Hup Holland Hup.
Morzer
@Doctor Gonzo:
And how was it supposed to do any of those things without defying the laws of physics? We do know what would have happened, and conjuring up wildly implausible scenarios is a pretty lame way to try and defend cheating by Suarez.
Simon
And I have just one more thing to say to this, you people who think that Ghana got jobbed (which they did — getting jobbed is part of sport). I was stuck in Norway during February, 2008, and had nothing to do but exercise every evening at a club where I could watch the African Cup tournament above my treadmill. There was a quarterfinal (?) game against Ghana and Nigeria, and it was the nastiest football I have ever seen.
A Nigerian player was on the ground behind the ref . . . A Ghana player came up behind him, bends down and jabs him in the eye with two fingers . . . The guy shouts, the ref turns around . . . The Ghana player hurls himself backwards and writhes on the ground in pain. Both teams did that shit for 90 minutes, so don’t feel too bad for Ghana — they’d do what Suarez did for sure, and I bet worse as well. It’s football, and they play to win.
Someone tell me why Suarez is worse than the Brazilian guy who stomped on a leg. And do it be referring to the act itself, not the ‘hopes of Africa riding’ stuff.
Randinho
@Simon: They’re both equally bad, but Suarez cheated and his team emerged victorious as a result of his act while Felipe Melo cheated and his team paid the price.
Simon
Actually, Randinho, my point is that they are not equally bad. What Melo did is much worse, and it’s only in a society where we value victory more than we condemn violence that they would be considered equal. Suarez broke a rule in a game, Melo purposely tried to injure another player. Equal where?
But because we care about victory, and not violence, we’re talking about Suarez.
Randinho
Suarez broke a rule in a game,
Which is the definition of cheating.