Luis “The Cannibal” Suarez made his FC Barcelona debut on Monday in the Catalan club’s 6-0 rout over Mexican champion, club Leon. Suarez came off the bench with the game already in hand and played the final 13 minutes of the match.
Suarez replaced Spanish striker Rafinha Alcantara late in the second half and received a huge ovation from the home team crowd at Camp Nou. The Uruguayan striker was making not only his debut with his new club since being transferred from Liverpool in the most expensive transfer of the summer, but he also returned to the pitch for the first time since the “bite heard round the world” in the World Cup.
The biting incident was the third such incident of Suarez’s career, and many believe the reason why Liverpool was willing to part ways with the controversial star. Suarez bit Italian defender, Giorgio Chiellini, in the second half Uruguay’s final group play game with the former Italian champions. After the incident, FIFA banned Suarez from any and all soccer activity for four months.
However, just recently, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, upheld the ban, but gave Suarez some wiggle room by allowing him to not only train for his new Barcelona team, but also play in all non-competitive matches for Barca. Suarez immediately flew out to Barcelona where he met his new teammates and trained for the first time on Friday.
When Suarez was announced as a substitute in the match against Leon on Monday, the stadium erupted to great applause as Suarez finally took the pitch. His teammates tried to find him early, but rust was apparent from the time off as Suarez never seemed comfortable in the game. Suarez will stay in Barcelona to train and partake in any promotional activities with the team, but most likely won’t see the field again after this until Oct. 26 when the team is set to take on arch rivals, Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.
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