Inter Miami forward Luis Suárez sparks brawl after Leagues Cup loss, seemingly spits on Sounders staff member

The Seattle Sounders had an absolutely dominant win over Inter Miami in the Leagues Cup final, earning a 3-0 win and winning their first Leagues Cup trophy. But after the game, as the Sounders started to celebrate, Miami forward Luis Suárez did not take the loss well.

Suárez sparked a fight between the two sides moments after the whistle blew, grabbing a celebrating Obed Vargas and put him into a headlock. The action led to a large scrum as both sides got into each other’s faces, as defender Yeimar tried to break up the fight.

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Later, Suárez got in the face of a member of the Sounders’ staff, reportedly a member of the security team. Video shows Suárez seemingly spitting into the staff member’s face.

After the initial altercation, members of both teams joined in. At one point, Miami defender Maximiliano Falcón held Seattle defender Cody Baker, who didn’t even play in Sunday’s game, in a headlock as well. The skirmish escalated as multiple players tried to free or separate their teammates, with players shoving and exchanging words.

At one point, Suárez — the instigator — was flipped to the ground.

“Unfortunately, that is gonna take some attention away from what was a great Sounders performance,” Seattle head coach Brian Schmetzer said. “I can take it as a compliment that their players were frustrated, and frustrations led to things that shouldn’t happen on the field. But that shouldn’t be the story.”

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The game itself was physical, with both sides putting pressure on other players. But throughout the match, Inter Miami expressed frustration with the call, with as many as four players at a time continuously swarming the referee to speak about calls.

Both teams ended with roughly equal fouls, with Seattle picking up 11 fouls and Miami picking up 12. Miami seemed to think it should have been more.

But the fight took things to a new level, with Suárez in particular engaging in multiple behaviors that might result in punishment from the league.

“I’ll let the commissioner, I’ll let the people in charge deal with whatever happened at the end of the game. I don’t wanna discount the way our team played and kept their composure on the field during those 90 minutes. That again to me is the story,” Schmetzer said.