Former Uruguay captain Diego Lugano has claimed Luis Suarez showed his "loyalty" by risking his dream move from Liverpool to Barcelona by biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini.
Suarez was kicked out of the World Cup and banned from all football activity for four months after biting Chiellini during an explosive group game in the 2014 World Cup.
It was the third time the striker had been guilty of such an offence, having also bitten Branislav Ivanovic when playing the for the Reds against Chelsea, and was handed a 10-game ban, having committed the same crime when at Ajax.
This came at a time when speculation was at its highest about Suarez's future at Anfield, with Barcelona making it no secret they wanted to sign him.
Teammate Lugano, who won 95 caps for his country during a career that included a brief spell at West Brom, believes Suarez put his country before his own move by risking the backlash that could have scupper his move to the Camp Nou.
Lugano said: “Luis was fighting with Liverpool - and what happened at the World Cup could have lost his possible sale to either Madrid or Barca.
“He gambled so we wouldn't die. He bit someone. But he would have killed someone because he was loyal to the cause.
“That is the reality. I thank him for all the efforts he made.
“This story about Luis Suarez is worthy to be told in the best history of Uruguayan football.”
“You should never expose a team-mate who is loyal to the cause and at some point has made mistakes," he added.
“But the Italians were chasing Luis all through the game.
“Then, after Luis did what he did, Chiellini failed to mark Godin, we scored, and we qualified.
“I think what Luis did left a psychological mark on Chiellini because we scored from our very next corner.
“But Luis served the longest sentence in the history of international football and was unable to play during the best time of his career.”
