"They'll always blame Messi for everything"

Luis Suárez leapt to the defence of his Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi.

The reason was the criticism that the Argentine received after the Copa América in Chile. Suárez said, "They'll always blame him for everything".

The 28-year-old also told the Uruguayan subsidiary of Fox Sports on Thursday that "I get blamed for Uruguay getting knocked out of the World Cup because of my mistake when there were 22 other players, just in the same way that Messi is blamed for Argentina not winning the final".

The Barcelona striker added, "These are circumstances that arise in football, but as captain and the best player in the world, he's the first person who wants to be a champion with Argentina and win something".

"I can assure you of that, both about him and those of his teammates that I know. Every player representing his country wants to achieve great things", pointed out Suárez.

The former Liverpool star would also like someone at FIFA to admit at some point that the ban he picked up during the World Cup in Brazil "was over the top".

"People on the committee know that the ban was excessive. They know it. Just as I know I regret it and said that I made a mistake, I'd like someone to say, 'We gave him that ban and we made a mistake'. That would be the fairest and most decent thing to do", explained Suárez.

The Uruguayan was handed a nine-match ban which ended his World Cup campaign after biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini during his country's 1-0 win in the group stage.