Suarez And The Limitations Of Talent

By Tayo Ogunbiyi

Uruguayan born football whiz kid, Louis Suarez is, no doubt, a talented footballer. Last season, before he finally agreed to stay with his club, Liverpool FC of England, he was a subject of fierce transfer speculations as most major clubs in Europe jostled to snap him up from the service of Liverpool FC. Though he started the 2013/14 English Premier League, EPL,  season late, having earlier been suspended for nine machetes, Suarez still emerged the highest goal scorer with 31 goals . Not only that, for his amazing exploits on the field of play, he was overwhelmingly voted the EPL Player of the Season. Such is the unbelievable strength of Suarez talent.

As he does for his club, so also he does for his Uruguay national team. That Suarez is the life wire of the Uruguayan national team is an understatement. At the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Suarez was partially part of the reason Uruguay got to the Semi Final, breaking the hearts of many Ghanaians, and indeed, Africans, in the process. He has equally repeated his heroic acts for his country at the on-going World Cup in Brazil when he single-handedly took England to the cleaners, scoring two great goals in their Group D second match which England eventually lost 1- 2. This defeat finally nailed the coffin of England’s chances of moving to the next stage of the competition.

It is, however, unfortunate that Suarez has not been able to properly leverage on his mercurial footballing talent with some of his disgusting on field acts. Rather than being remembered for his footballing exploits, the sheer mention of  Suarez’s name, ironically, now  evokes bad memories as a result of his numerous shameful acts of biting fellow players on the field.  While still plying his footballing trade at Holland, Suarez was involved in a brawl involving players from  his erstwhile team, Ajax Amsterdam and PSV Eindhoven in a Dutch league match. Bakkal, a PSV player, confronted Suarez in the skirmish, but the Uruguayan simply leant over and bit him on the neck. Though Suarez later apologised to Bakkal, the havoc had already been done.

Similarly, in the closing stages of a 2012/2013 EPL game between his team, Liverpool FC  and Chelsea FC,  Ivanovic and Suarez jostled for the ball in the penalty area, to which Suarez responded by biting the Serbian defender on the arm. Suarez was immediately fined by his club, and later banned for ten games by an English FA panel, who criticized him for “not appreciating the seriousness” of the offense by arguing that he should not  receive a lengthy ban. The FA said they hoped the suspension would send a “strong message that such deplorable behaviours do not have a place in football”.

As if he has not done enough havoc to the game, his name, family and country, Suarez recently made it a hat-trick of biting during a Brazil 2014 World Cup game against Italy in Natal, when he bit Italian defender, Giorgio Chiellini, on the shoulder during a penalty area scuffle. Showing off another part of himself as a man of low integrity, Suarez went down holding his own teeth after the incident, claiming that Chiellini had hit him in retaliation. The incident was not seen by any officials on the pitch, but FIFA guidelines state that incidents of ill-discipline can be punished afterwards. It was, therefore, not surprising when the FIFA Disciplinary Committee decided to suspend Suarez for nine official international matches and a further four months from taking part in all football related activities. The sanctions take immediate effect.

Football is, without doubt, a contact sport that involves physical struggles. There are, however, certain boundaries that players should not cross. Suarez has flouted the rules of the game on numerous occasions. Aside biting opponents on the field of play, he was sometimes found guilty for racially  abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra during an EPL match. Suarez has clearly demonstrated that the rules of the game means nothing to him. Neither does he have any regard for the spirit of sportsmanship and fair play. His inability to turn a new leaf in spite of numerous sanctions in the past, is simply an indication that his talent is not enough to make him a legend of the game.

It is rather sad that now that FIFA is making efforts to promote fair play, Suarez has decided to further bring the game to disrepute through his awkward behaviour.  Football has become a global brand that commands huge following, with numerous young people looking up to some of the famous players as role models. Hence, if the likes of Suarez are not tamed, they could become bad examples to the youth.  It sends out the wrong message to football fans.  Actually, if Suarez had bitten someone outside the soccer field, he would be culpable of assault and drawn into criminal trial. It is, therefore, worth commending that FIFA has stood in support of the game by punishing Suarez.

The Suarez case has clearly brought to fore the limitations of talent in man’s quest for excellence in life’s pursuit. There has been numerous cases of highly talented people, in diverse spheres of life, who still failed to achieve optimal success in life. The late Whitney Houston was blessed with amazing singing talent but ended up a failure in spite of her natural endowment.  Former World Heavy Weight Boxing Champion, ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson, thanks to his boxing talent, became a multimillionaire before he clocked age 20. He, however, through his riotous lifestyle, squandered all the fortune he amassed  from boxing and today remains heavily indebted. In our clime, the name Etim Esin rings a bell, at least for football lovers. He  was one of the finest footballers this country ever produced in the early 90s. At the height of his footballing glory, Etim was compared to Argentine Soccer prodigy, Maradona. Such was the depth of his talent. Unfortunately, Etim blew it with his unruly style of life. He was alleged to have been involved in drug and rape cases which eventually cast a dark shadow on his soccer career which  was short-lived due to his several acts of indiscipline. Music genius, Majek Fashek, is today a shadow of his former self because he couldn’t properly manage his God given music talent.

Talent is God-given. Whether in sports, entertainment, business, oratory, leadership or writing, certain individuals have become household names as a result of their talents. It is hard to understand, but a man’s talent simply distinguishes him from the crowd. There is, however, one snag, talent is not enough in the path to success.  According to American author, H. Jackson Brown Jr.,  best known for his inspirational book , ‘Life’s Little Instruction Book’,   “talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates. There is plenty of movement, but you never know if it is going to be forward, backwards, or sideways.” How apt!

 •Ogunbiyi is of the  Features Unit, Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.