Those following the World Cup — which is pretty much everybody — came up for air yesterday after a frantic first fortnight, but as we get ready for the round of 16 starting today the talking point over the last few days remains the biting incident involving Luis Suárez and punishment from Fifa.

The four-month ban and nine-match international ban, which keeps him out of Liverpool’s team until October 26 as well as ruling him out of next year’s Copa America for Uruguay.

Like the 16 teams that failed to advance from the group stage, Suárez has made an early exit from the World Cup after his disgraceful third biting incident since 2010, when he was an Ajax player and bit an opponent on the neck.

It’s obvious that he hasn’t learned anything from his past transgressions because if somebody does the same thing three times then he needs to get evaluated.

When you have the world looking at you and children viewing you as a role model, then you have to set a better example. Regardless what Giorgio Chiellini, the Italy defender, did to him it doesn’t warrant a player going around biting someone.

In fact he did it to the right player because somebody else would have elbowed him right in his mouth and knocked out some teeth. I thought Chiellini showed good restraint and was very professional about it and didn’t get a card, possibly red, for retaliation.

In previous columns I praised Suarez for his performances on the field last season when he went on to win the Player of the Year award. But I cannot condone his behaviour this week.

He definitely needs someone to evaluate him because there is something wrong with him. I was always taught by my dad that you never go down the same wrong road twice and now he’s done it three times.

In fact the suspension and the fine of just over $?100,000 was a bit soft, I would have hit him with a far more severe punishment than that. He makes more than that in a week!

The World Cup has reached the crunch stage where the losers go out, which should add some extra spice to the matches.

So far, the tournament has been unpredictable with several of the so-called big-boys being eliminated at the first hurdle.

Spain, the defending champions, were eliminated after just two games along with England and by the time the group matches were completed the likes of Italy and Portugal had joined them.

Africa are now represented by just Nigeria and Algeria after Cameroon and Ghana failed to pick up a single point from their matches in group A and G.

If anybody had told you beforehand that Costa Rica would be in the last 16, especially ahead of the likes of Italy and England from Group d, you would have never believed them.

The heroics of Costa Rica, who play Greece tomorrow, can only boost the Concacaf region if, hopefully, the people in charge do the right thing and let Fifa know that we might need to have more teams from this region in the World Cup. They have shown that the smaller countries are catching up with the traditional powerhouses.

It was a big surprise that Italy, who lost to Costa Rica, were unable got another point after beating England, but that’s football, nobody has the right to advance, you have to earn it and the teams that prepare the best are the teams that will win.