I don't really want to rehash the whole Luis Suarez incident from earlier this year, but I just read an interesting article on ESPN about Messi and Royston Drenthe, now playing at Everton.
Quote:
"We played against each other a lot, and we always had problems," he told Dutch magazine Helden. "You know what really bothers me? That tone with which he always called me 'negro, negro'."
As was widely discussed in the wake of the recent accusations against Liverpool's Luis Suarez, the term "negro" does not necessarily carry negative connotations in South American countries, but Drenthe feels such words are offensive.
"I understand that it is very common in South America, but we cannot stand it," he added. "Mahamadou Diarra, my team-mate at Real, would become furious when Gabriel Heinze and Gonzalo Higuain initially called him 'negro', but they soon stopped.
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http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/st...o'?cc=5901
I really feel like that whole incident exploded into something massive for Suarez that never needed to be. I doubt that Messi will face an 8 match ban.