Did Luis Suarez Try to Bite the Same Italian Player Last Year?

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Luis Suarez appears to attempt to chomp down on Giorgio Chiellini during the FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013 3rd Place match between Uruguay and Italy on June 30, 2013 in Salvador, Brazil.

Image: Claudio Villa

By Chris Taylor2014-06-26 01:42:20 UTC

As if the story of Uruguay's Luis Suarez biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini during Tuesday's World Cup match couldn't get any stranger, it seems this isn't just an act for which Suarez has been punished before — it may not even be the first time Suarez attempted to bite the exact same player.

Photos and videos of this prior incident have emerged from the FIFA Confederations Cup, also held in Brazil, almost exactly a year ago on June 30 2013. Again, Italy played Uruguay, this time in the third-place match.

At one point in the match, shown in the photo above, Suarez was chasing the ball in front of the Italian goal, then grabbed Chiellini and appears to be about to sink his teeth into the Italian's right shoulder.

See also: World Cup Recap Day 13: Reality Bites

The video of the incident is below. The attempted bite, if that's what it is, happens in the very first second:

The evidence is inconclusive, but it seems Suarez may have attempted a bite but didn't quite connect. Certainly, Chiellini wasn't protesting as violently as he did during the World Cup match, when he bared his shoulder for all to see the bite mark.

Suarez has been punished for two other biting incidents — one at Ajax, for which he received a 7-match ban, and one at Liverpool for which he received a 10-match ban.

FIFA's disciplinary committee is currently conducting an investigation into the incident during Tuesday's game, and is expected to announce its result before Saturday, when Uruguay play Colombia.

Topics: 2014 world cup, world cup, Entertainment, luis suarez, Sports