One little word

A tweet was RT'd into my timeline last night. It was from Ben Smith, BBC football correspondent (@BenSmithBBC). It said this.

Suarez said: "I dreamt this. I'm enjoying this moment, because of all I suffered, the criticism I received. So, there you go."

I thought what you're probably all thinking as well. Fuck you, you cheeky bastard, I thought. All you suffered? The criticisms you received? Evra and Ivanovic might feel they'd suffered a little bit as well.

70% of me was outraged. The rest of me was secretly pleased, because I knew there was enough here for the kind of snarky blogpost that would make me feel a little better about events in general. An ignoble response perhaps, but it was enough to let me get some sleep last night.

So I'm up this morning all ready to bitch and snipe, and I go hunting for the original quote. And this is what I find (Luis Suarez cries during post-match interview)

Reporter: Is it true that you dreamt of scoring multiple goals?

Suarez: Yes… yes.. I dreamt it and I am enjoying this moment together with my team. For all the moments I’ve lived and the criticisms we’ve received... well, there you have it.

Well that seems a little different, doesn't it? In particular, unless Suarez has started to use the Royal We, he's talking about criticisms of the Uruguayan national team rather than of himself in England. Also, there's no reference to suffering as such.

Having said that, some of his interview comments didn't exactly cover him in glory (Luis Suarez says Uruguay win was for the critics).

Before the game, too many people in England laughed about my attitude over the last few years, he said. This is a very good time for me. I want to see what they think now. There's a distinct air of the poor winner about that one. I'm also not quite clear how scoring two goals redeems past human failings, rather than leaving him a failed human who happens to have scored some goals. And Ben Smith may well feel his tweet (limited to 140 characters, remember) captured the spirit if not the letter of Suarez's remarks.

Still, it's important to get these things right, I think, if only because Suarez himself seems to have so little grasp of the concept of a fact as a description of an event existing independently of his personal needs.

For that slice of my audience that doesn't follow these matters as closely as I do, here's some background on this. You may remember the first time he came to the attention of an international audience beyond Uruguay and Holland, where he was playing for Ajax. The team, not the Homeric warrior. Sorry, but like I said, I have a diverse audience.

It's a peculiar thing, an English private school education. You know the singer Dido? You remember the first time you heard her name, and thought that sounds a lot like dildo? Well, the original Dido was a character in Virgil's Aeneid, a queen of Carthage who fell in love with Aeneas and killed herself when he sailed away. The first time I heard about dildoes, I thought that sounds a lot like Dido. The same thing happened with the Homeric and footballing Ajax. Despite my continued love of the classics, I can't help but feel that that's the wrong way round in both cases.

Back to Suarez. It was the 2010 World Cup, and Uruguay had a quarter final against Ghana. Although the World Cup was in Africa, Ghana were the only African team to progress beyond the group stage, so a large part of the world, and certainly the pub I was in, were right behind them to go as far as possible for Africa.

It was the last minute of extra time. Ghana had a shot which was going in and would have won the match, but Suarez blocked it with his hand and was sent off. It was cheating, but in football that's hardly unusual in itself. Ghana had a penalty, and Uruguay had lost a player, so it seemed fair enough.

What rather grated, though, in my mind and I think the mind of most observers, was that when Gyan missed Ghana's penalty Suarez jumped up and down in celebration as he headed up the tunnel, as if he'd done a really clever thing for which he was receiving his just reward.

Uruguay won the following penalty shootout, and went through. Gyan distinguished himself by taking the first penalty for Ghana and scoring, a show of character that Suarez would surely be unable to appreciate, but it availed them nothing. It's noticeable how often the Biff Tannens of football seem to win out over the Marty McFlys. Of course, Suarez was suspended for the semis and Holland saw them off, but the damage had been done.

The next thing we knew, Suarez was at Liverpool. During that time he was suspended for using racial abuse against Patrick Evra of Man Utd, and for biting Branislav Ivanisovich on the shoulder. To be honest I'm a bit bored listing his shortcomings, but here's a fair summary of the racial abuse incident. Let's hope today brings us a more pleasant subject.