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Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Editorial: World Cup's bite is worse than its bark

Roger Moroney
Hawkes Bay Today·
27 Jun, 2014 10:00 PM3 mins to read

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Oh dear oh dear.

It was not a Minties moment ... it was a munchies moment.

Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez provided the football World Cup in Brazil with global exposure a few days ago for all the wrong reasons.

This was a tournament which many feared would result in something ugly occurring.

But not on the pitches of Brazil, more likely on the crime-filled streets as desperate and cash-strapped residents from the slum-like favelas went in search of foreigners bearing gifts ... like money and cellphones and jewellery.

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There was talk about mass transportation disruption and stadiums ill-equipped to handle the game's most cherished and prestigious four-yearly event.

But it all appears to have gone swimmingly well, unless you are English, Italian or Spanish.

I have English and Spanish heritage so it hasn't been the best of weeks, but I have been entertained by what I've seen, especially from the smaller fish in the global game.

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Sadly, the only issues have been on the pitch.

From the ludicrous dive the Greek player performed to get a match-winning penalty in the last minutes of their clash, to the appalling case of "your shoulder just struck my teeth" incident as described by Mr Suarez and his idiotic management who have declared it all to be a media beat-up.

Suarez is clearly equipped to be a fine nippy little player with strong limbs and a rare nouse for accuracy.

But he is equally well equipped, by virtue of his gnashers, to be able to make a sizeable impact upon a field of flesh.

He has now bitten an opposing player three times during his chequered playing history and performed more dives than the average Cape Kidnappers gannet.

He clearly has a nutritional as well as a psychological problem and to my mind it should simply be three strikes and you are out ... or in this case three bites.

It irked me as sport should be, simply, sport.

So I was buoyed to chat with Pirates 11th Grade rugby coach David Taukamo and one of his fine and humble young sportsmen, William Marsden, this week.

This is a team that plays fairly and nobly. They applaud their opposition and pay compliment to them when they do well.

It is a refreshing and feel-good thing, and I think we should have a whip-around to send David over to Brazil to spread his philosophy to the leaders of the at times not-so-beautiful game.

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Footnote: I have started calling our little lunatic cat Luis ... no explanations required.

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