Contrite Suarez attends maiden training at Barca
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LUIS Suarez trained with his Barcelona teammates, including Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta, for the first time yesterday and then admitted he was still paying for his “mistake” in biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup.
After getting the green light from the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the Uruguayan striker was the center of attention as he took part in his first training session with the Catalan club.
But afterwards, interviewed wearing a Barcelona shirt, he told the club website: “I’m paying for a mistake I made and one I have apologized for, but I have to forget about all this.
“I am only thinking about the future, which is at FC Barcelona, the club who I dreamed of playing for.”
After the uncertainty of the past weeks, Suarez stressed: “I am really happy to feel like a footballer again, and to be with my teammates. I just couldn’t wait to get started.”
Suarez took an active part in the session with the main group under the watchful eye of coach Luis Enrique.
On Thursday, the CAS upheld Suarez’s four-month ban from playing in competitive games as well as his nine-match international suspension, but it did allow him to train and play in unofficial matches.
And that means he could make his debut against Mexican club Leon in the Joan Gamper Trophy, the traditional curtain-raiser to the season at the Camp Nou. There will be a temptation to give the 27-year-old a run-out against Leon as it will be Barcelona’s final friendly before its first league game of the new season against Elche next weekend.
Suarez has reportedly been training on his own in an unknown location in Catalonia since completing his 95-million euro (US$127 million) move from Liverpool last month.
He will be available to play in competitive matches from Saturday, October 25, meaning his official debut could come in the first Clasico of the campaign against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.
“Now I have to wait to play again,” Suarez said. “I have to be ready for when it is my turn.”
Suarez has never explained his propensity to bite opponents.
He earned a 10-game ban for biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic in 2013, after being sidelined for seven matches with Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam in 2010 for the same offense against PSV Eindhoven’s Otman Bakkal.
Suarez will be presented to the Barcelona fans on Monday before the Joan Gamper Trophy match and on Tuesday he will be presented to the media at a press conference.
In yesterday’s training session, as well as Suarez, Brazilian Neymar completed the full session, even though he has not received the medical all clear after suffering a fractured vertebrae in the World Cup quarterfinal against Colombia.
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