Whether or not FIFA bans Luis Suarez from international football for the next two years, the fact of the matter is this 27-year-old ‘incisive striker’ handed over a biting chance to Uruguay and ousted Italy in a dramatic manner. But the ‘tooth and nail’ fight for a safe passage to the World Cup top 16, decimating the Italians of the ‘Group of Death’ and ensuring meaty Uruguayan victory meant that Suarez has claimed an immortal space in the hallowed universe of soccer trivia. Already, pop cultural references to Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Transylvanian vampirism, Hannibal Lecter of the Anthony Hopkins classic Silence of the Lambs and even the boxing legend Mike Tyson (who had bitten off opponent Evander Holyfield’s ear in an indescribable moment of bodily fury) have gone viral on social media. Someone has photocaptioned an Apple logo saying ‘Suarez was here’.
Memes like Tyrannosuarez rex, Zombie Suarez, Feed Suarez fund, among others are doing the rounds in the online circuits of football mania. Hashtags on Twitter have spawned contests of best one-liners and repartees, with even Evander Holyfield himself tweeting, ‘I guess any part of the body is up for eating.’ Fun and frolic aside, Suarez’s hat-trick in biting fellow players, has taken footballers’ antics to quite another level from say a Zinedine Zidane’s headbutt or Diego Maradona’s ‘hand of god.’ So for Italian player Georgio Chiellini, there’s at least one silver lining in this cannibalistic storm in the now out-of-bounds World Cup. He needn’t fade into the oblivion of second-tier soccer mediocrity, since it’s not humanly possible to sever Suarez’s name from his own now. He can exist in the shadows of the Uruguayan superstar’s fame as long as football footnotes stay in fashion. Not trying to assault anyone’s politically correct sensibilities, but Chiellini’s fame does appear bite-sized.
Memes like Tyrannosuarez rex, Zombie Suarez, Feed Suarez fund, among others are doing the rounds in the online circuits of football mania. Hashtags on Twitter have spawned contests of best one-liners and repartees, with even Evander Holyfield himself tweeting, ‘I guess any part of the body is up for eating.’ Fun and frolic aside, Suarez’s hat-trick in biting fellow players, has taken footballers’ antics to quite another level from say a Zinedine Zidane’s headbutt or Diego Maradona’s ‘hand of god.’ So for Italian player Georgio Chiellini, there’s at least one silver lining in this cannibalistic storm in the now out-of-bounds World Cup. He needn’t fade into the oblivion of second-tier soccer mediocrity, since it’s not humanly possible to sever Suarez’s name from his own now. He can exist in the shadows of the Uruguayan superstar’s fame as long as football footnotes stay in fashion. Not trying to assault anyone’s politically correct sensibilities, but Chiellini’s fame does appear bite-sized.