Blue card: German-American scoruba bites enemies

Strange incident at the World Handball Championship: German-American Paul Skoruba (23) who was playing for the United States in the main round match against Bahrain on Thursday caused a stir when he was bitten.

Andreas Wolff didn’t hesitate. Germany’s handball goalkeeper pulled out his cell phone in a flash and played a curious clip of a German-American Paul Skoruba allegedly biting back at his then-unknown assistant coach.

“Definitely unsportsmanlike, it’s a bit funny,” Wolff said Friday of the pivotal incident between the United States and Bahrain (27:32) in the World Cup’s main round match. A scene reminiscent of Uruguay’s star footballer Luis Suarez’s legendary bite at the 2014 World Cup.

Düsseldorf-born Skorupa, who plays for second division club VfL Lübeck-Schwartau, apparently bit his opponent Husain al-Sayad. He then showed the referees their proper place. The officials watched the video footage and sent Skoruba off the field at 19:21 in the 40th minute. The circle runner also saw a blue card and a lengthy suspension was imminent.

“We talked about it last night,” Wolff said. The blue card was “definitely fair. I hope no young handball player takes this as an example.” Playmaker Luca Witzke gave an unequivocal verdict: “It was unsportsmanlike and should be punished.” Uruguay’s Suarez has been banned for 9 matches by FIFA for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini.