• World Cup

Mourinho: Suarez is amazing... when not diving

ESPN staff
June 21, 2014
Is Luis Suarez one of the greatest in the world?

Jose Mourinho has hailed Luis Suarez for the "amazing" two-goal display that brought Uruguay a 2-1 win over England - and says he prefers that side of the striker to the one who "dives and tries to get penalties out of nothing".

Suarez produced two superb finishes to sink England, whose elimination from the World Cup was confirmed on Friday after Costa Rica beat Italy, and Chelsea manager Mourinho said he believed the controversial striker gets the credit he is due when the best of his game is on display.

"There are two periods of Luis Suarez," Mourinho told Yahoo! Sport. "The one period, before I arrived [back in England as Chelsea manager for the second time], he had bad behaviour. He had that situation with [biting Branislav] Ivanovic, and he had the suspension for a long period."

Mourinho accused Suarez of diving in Chelsea's 2-1 win over Liverpool last December, with Mourinho saying he went to ground easily by doing an "acrobatic swimming pool jump" to try and win a penalty.

In March, Mourinho also hinted that Suarez was the "king of penalties" instead of defending his own player Samuel Eto'o.

"Obviously he was criticised. After that, there is a second period of Suarez, which was last season, and in this season he was voted by the English football press as the player of the season," Mourinho said.

"They all recognise that he is a fantastic player. When his behaviour is okay, people give him the credit that he deserves.

"I speak for myself: when he dives and he tries to get penalties out of nothing, I don't like the situation. But when he plays like he did many, many times for Liverpool, and when he plays like he did against England, I have to say... absolutely amazing.

"The commitment, the connection with the players, the connection with the supporters -- again I have to say, amazing."

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