Julian Gressel has shared what Luis Suarez did against Montreal on Saturday that left an Inter Miami teammate fuming.
The Herons made it five wins in a row on the weekend with a 3-2 win in Canada, with Inter Miami again fighting back from behind to claim all three points as Suarez scored from a Gressel corner.
Whilst Lionel Messi’s anger towards MLS’s new injury rules was widely covered, Suarez almost found himself in hot water with another rule change regarding how quickly players must leave the pitch after being shown on the board to come off.
And one Inter Miami teammate reacted badly to Suarez taking his time and getting in trouble with the referee.
Leonardo Campana mad at the referee for holding up Suarez substitute
Speaking on the Player/Manager podcast, Gressel revealed that Leonardo Campana was physically angry with how long it took Suarez to leave the field, with the striker being made to replace the Uruguayan by the referee.
Gressel said when asked why Suarez got in trouble with the referee: “He took 16 seconds to come off, it’s as simple as that, it’s longer than 10 seconds and I think the referee tried to encourage him to jog off.
“Ultimately he [the referee] felt like he didn’t do it fast enough and then decided to keep Campana off the pitch, which I only saw until I saw his reaction because he turned back to the bench and kicked the water bottle holder, because he was mad of not being able to get on and help the team and play.
“It was a moment that ultimately worked out, so we learn from it, and we’ll see if it happens again.”
Inter Miami will hope Suarez doesn’t repeat timewasting action again
Given the scoreline and the nature of the game, it’s no real wonder why Suarez time wasted when his turn came to come off the pitch for Campana heading into stoppage time.
Yet with the new rule now in place that players have ten seconds to leave the pitch when their number is called up to leave the pitch, Inter Miami have to hope Suarez does not repeat this action again.
As we know, the striker is one of Inter Miami’s most important players, and losing Suarez through suspension from something as trivial as taking too long to come off the pitch would be a hammer blow for the Herons.