I didn’t feel like a footballer – Suarez

• Posted on August 22, 2014
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

The Uruguay striker says he struggled to get to grips with the initial limitations of his four-month ban, before an appeal granted him permission to train during his suspension

Barcelona star Luis Suarez says he didn’t feel like a footballer after being forced to train alone during the first few weeks of his four-month ban.

The Uruguay striker was handed the suspension for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini during a World Cup group stage match earlier this summer.

The ban applied to all footballing activity, meaning he was only allowed to keep up his fitness on his own after signing for Barcelona from Liverpool in an €88 million deal in July.

But an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) saw the 27-year-old granted permission to train with his new team-mates and play in friendlies, though the length of the sanction remains intact.

“It was hard for me to train alone in a rectangle 10 by 10,” he revealed.

“That made me not feel like a footballer. It felt weird. I’m a lot happier now that I am working with my new team-mates.

“It feels good to be able to tell my children that I am leaving the house to go to work.”

It remains to be seen exactly where Suarez will feature in Barca coach Luis Enrique’s new-look starting XI this season, but the striker says he is happy to operate in whatever role his new boss sees fit.

“I’ll try to adapt to whatever position Luis Enrique asks me to play,” he added.

“He knows me and he knows how I play. I’m at the biggest club in the world and I’m hungry to win the biggest trophies. Those are the challenges I like.”

By Alec Fenn