'Luis Suarez stomp forced me into early retirement - my joint exploded into pieces'

Spanish goalkeeper Gorka Giralt has revealed that an accidental stamp by forced him to retire from the game.

It was in January 2022 that the former striker trod on the Basque shot-stopper's hand in the first five minutes of a clash between and third-tier side Rayo Majadahonda in the Now a goalkeeping coach at Las Rozas, Giralt has lifted the lid on the traumatic event.

Talking recently on 'El Chiringuito', the 29-year-old described the coming together in graphic detail. "My joint exploded into pieces, like a walnut," Giralt said on the show. "Suarez tries to finish with a goal, but unfortunately, he steps on the joint of one of my hands."

While unfortunate for Giralt, he has distanced himself from blaming Suarez. He also disclosed how the Uruguayan star contacted him after the accident to apologise and to give him his match shirt.

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Giralt underwent surgery three times in a desperate bid to mend his hand. He added, per "At that moment, I didn't feel it and the first thing I did was check if the ball had gone out. After that my hand started to get cramped. When I took off the glove it moved very strangely... in jumps. I was very unlucky, but I don't think about it."

While clearly an accident, Suarez has been embroiled in during his time on the pitch; his most famous moment of dissension, if not his worst, perhaps came at the 2010 World Cup.

With Uruguay and Ghana locked at 1-1 in their quarter-final clash and extra time almost over, the ball broke to Dominic Adiyiah in the Uruguayan box. The Ghanaian managed to steer his effort on target, only for Suarez to handle the ball on the goal line.

Suarez was sent off for deliberate handball, but Asamoah Gyan fired his penalty kick against the bar. Suarez's nation then advanced to the semi-finals.

Suarez is also known for occasionally biting his opponents. In 2010, the striker was playing for Ajax against PSV Eindhoven when he became enraged with Otman Bakkal and attempted to take a bite out of the midfielder. Ajax disciplined Suarez internally for his actions, but the Dutch FA eventually banned him for seven league games.

Further biting incidents followed against Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic and former Italian international Giorgio Chiellini. Suarez was banned for 10 games for the incident with Ivanovic; however, the bite was missed by the on-pitch officials, meaning he still had time to fire home a stoppage-time equaliser for the Reds against

Suarez was also handed a nine-match ban for the incident with Chiellini. However, he managed to finish that match and help Uruguay progress to the last 16 of the 2014 World Cup at Italy's expense. Suarez later apologised to Chiellini for what he described as "the physical result of a bite in the collision he suffered with me."

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