- Luis Suarez was seen to apparently bite opponent in key World Cup game
- The incident occurred during Uruguay's 1-0 win over Italy
- Suarez has twice been punished for biting opponents during his career
- Football psychologist Dan Abrahams sympathizes with the soccer star
What do you think of Luis Suarez? Have your say on the CNN Facebook Pulse
(CNN) -- He's football's chief sinner, and Luis Suarez's alleged attempt to bite Giorgio Chiellini's shoulder in a key World Cup game has prompted an outpouring of indignation from the game's global congregation.
While many sought to condemn a man who is embroiled in the third biting controversy of his career, some observers felt compassion for the under-fire star.
"I actually feel sympathy for him," said Dan Abrahams, football psychology expert and author of "Soccer Brain."
"He's one of the world's best players and he obviously has a problem," he told CNN.
"That problem comes up at the wrong time, in the wrong place and he has to learn how to manage it, but that's tough to do."
Suarez has incisor history on the football pitch.
Read: Luis Suarez embroiled in fresh biting storm
When playing with Dutch club Ajax in 2007 he was suspended for seven games for biting an opponent, while he was hit with a 10-match sanction for an identical offense while playing for Liverpool in April 2013.
His short fuse, according to Abrahams, is part of a negative response to frustration which he has likely been dealing with for most of his life.
This is a player who at the age of 16 was given a red card for headbutting a referee.
"It's an instinctive response to frustration," explained Abrahams.
"Rationally, it's something that you would think that he could manage and deal with, but that's not how we work as human beings. It's something that he has to deal with and manage for the rest of his playing days."
Will this picture end Luis Suarez's World Cup? #CNNWorldCup http://t.co/iGK1lnmFI3 pic.twitter.com/7M19dr4g6v
â€" CNN Football Club (@CNNFC) June 24, 2014
One criticism of Suarez is that his past indiscretions suggest he might be irredeemably unreformable.
His misdemeanor in Natal the latest in a long line of unsavory incidents which includes serving an eight-match ban for racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra in 2011.
But Abrahams insists it's too simplistic to say Suarez is a millionaire sports star who should know better.
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